ITF

Shining Lights There was some fabulous tennis on show at two of the year's major tournaments on the ITF Seniors circuit as well as a host of inspiring tales. ITFWorld looks beyond the on-court action at the people who make seniors tennis what it is. S E N I O R S ITFWorld // WINTER 2018 2 7 LEONID STANISLAVSKYI By Michael Bea ie L E O N I D S T A N I S L A V S K Y I the age of 90, then players in my age category will emerge. Please, pay attention to old folks like me. I know there are players my age around the world – they are out there. They just need to be encouraged and brought into the sport." Goryana and Staniskavskyi lost to Canadian husband and wife duo Rosemaire and Robert Asch in the first round of the mixed doubles in Umag, 6-1 6-2. "We were trying to fight very hard," insists Stanislavskyi. "We won three games and that's a victory for us," Galyana added. With a combined age of 179, you might be inclined to agree – but her partner will not hear of it. "Many people tell me that I am a role model, that it's not my victories that count but just me getting out there on the court," Stanislavskyi said. "But it's not enough for me. Initially, I was an amateur and I just had a lot of fun playing tennis. Now, it's more than that. I need achievements. I want to win." So what is Staniskavskyi's secret? Simply put, a love of life. "You have to love life, and you have to love people. You have to put all the fighting aside and try to be nice to each other," he added. "If my health allows, I want to play until I am at least 100 years old. That's six more years. I feel my age, but the air here in Croatia is marvellous. I feel excellent. I swim in the sea after matches. We ended the match late, but I am still going to go for a swim. The water gives me strength. "I want to keep playing. I feel great. There is a lot of attention being paid to me, but I don't think I fully deserve it yet. I need victories." "You're still young, just 94," Goyana told him. Her secret is "optimism, and constant physical training. We will win one day." If my health allows, I want to play until I am at least 100 years old. ➝ EVERY DAY, LEONID STANISLAVSKYI WAKES UP AND STRETCHES, DOES 20 PRESS-UPS, THEN GOES FOR A RUN. THREE TIMES A WEEK HE plays at his local tennis club in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In 2015, after playing purely for fun for decades, he entered his first ITF tournament. He contested his fourth ITF Super Seniors World Championships in Umag in September, competing in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Leonid Stanislavskyi is 94 years old. The oldest competitor at the 2018 championships, Stanislavskyi has now been playing tennis for half his life. The retired aviation engineer took up the sport in his forties, joining work colleagues for a game. For the next four decades it was simply his pastime of choice, until someone posted a video of him on Youtube. "After I played an international competition for the first time, I put a video of myself entitled: '80-year-old Ukrainian woman at the ITF World Championships'," recalled Galyna Goryana, his mixed doubles partner in Umag. "Then I received a video of Leonid playing, aged 91. I got in touch, and soon learned he had never played a competition. So, I invited him to Kiev to play, and when I told him I was travelling to Croatia for the ITF Super Seniors World Championships, Leonid got all fired up about it and decided to join us. His first tournament was a World Championships." In three short years, Stanslavskyi has gone from part-time player to something of a minor celebrity in Ukrainian tennis circles. He has hit with the nation's No.1, Elina Svitolina – it ended in a tie, according to local reports – and 1999 Roland Garros finalist Andrei Medvedev, while their mutual sponsor, media magnate Yuri Sapronov, arranged for him to visit Wimbledon in 2017 in the hope he might get the chance to rally with Roger Federer. "Do people still play at that age?" Federer said when told of the offer, according to Sapronov. The match never materialised, but Stanislavskyi met Federer and a host of famous faces: "Martina Hingis, Victoria Azarenka, Juan Martin del Potro, Andre Agassi – I got photos with them all," he said, spending the rest of his time at the All England Club cheering his compatriots as a member of Svitolina's entourage. Staniskavskyi is grateful to Sapronov for sponsoring his tennis career, although he wishes he could fund his own way. Having lived in Kharkiv his whole life, barring a spell when he was evacuated to Siberia to work at an aviation assembly plant during the Second World War, he has now represented his country in Croatia, Turkey, Austria and the United States. "I thought I was just the oldest player in Europe but competing in America proved I was the oldest there as well," he said. "There is a Swedish player who is 102 years old, but he doesn't compete anymore, so in competitions I am always the oldest. "I believe if there is more attention paid to players over ITFWorld // WINTER 2018 2 7

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