The story of the Ukrainian tennis sisters who have been forced to flee

When the shelling began in Odessa, the sisters took refuge in an underground parking garage for two days before their parents decided to take them abroad. After escaping via the Romanian border on the Danube river, the sisters arrived in France safely around February 27-28.

Dayana was handed a wildcard to the Lyon tournament two days before Russian soldiers invaded; the sisters eventually made it to France to compete on the WTA tour.

Ivanna made her doubles debut alongside Dayana against Spaniard Georgina Garcia-Perez and Switzerland's Xenia Knoll where the sisters lost 6-2, 6-4. Dayana made it to the finals in the singles before being defeated by Chinese Zhang Shuai.

Ivanna did not speak when the sisters spoke to the press, but she arrived with a Ukrainian flag wrapped over her shoulders. "I am proud of my sister," Dayana added, "but with what is going on in Ukraine, we didn't have a lot of energy."

Dayanna recounted her experience sharing they were at home with their parents when they woke up to the sound of bombs in the morning. The family left their 12th-floor apartment and took shelter in a parking lot for two days. Their father decided to send the sisters and their mother outside the country and accompanied them on a four-hour-long journey to the Ukrainian border. Their mother eventually chose to return to Ukraine to be with their father. Before leaving their parents, the sisters said their goodbyes. They crossed the Romanian border and got assistance from locals before arriving in Lyon, France.

Dayana is currently ranked just outside the top 100, with a career-high of 21st in 2020 and three WTA titles. Her younger sister Ivanna is new to the game at the professional level and has only played four matches during the ITF junior circuit.

As Russia lays siege to Kyiv and continues its invasion of Ukraine, the consequences for Ukraine's population have been grave, with 2 million Ukrainians becoming refugees in other nations.

Many professional athletes have had to flee as well. Some, such as brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, former world heavyweight boxing champions, have opted to return to Ukraine and take up guns in defense of their homeland..

The brutality was swiftly condemned by the sporting world. Some sports, such as tennis, have openly prohibited Russian athletes from competing under the Russian flag at major sporting events, while others have outright prohibited them.