From one of the greatest upsets at Wimbledon … to the trenches of Ukraine.

Radio War Day 1240

Jul 17, 2025

Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Roger Federer in 2013. Now he fights in Ukraine’s special forces. And maybe … he should be the next ambassador to the U.S.

Here’s his story.

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AT WIMBLEDON in 2013, he did the impossible. Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky —ranked 116 — defeated Roger Federer, the defending champion. It was Federer’s earliest Wimbledon exit in a decade. Wimbledon is on now. But this tennis ace isn’t watching. He’s fighting, in Ukraine.

He retired from tennis in January 2022. Started making high-rated wine in his home region—Ukraine’s sunny Zakarpattia. On February 24, he woke up in Dubai. Turned on BBC. And saw explosions lighting up the Kyiv skyline. Soon he’d be in a blue Mini Cooper, driving to war.

He flew to Budapest. Said goodbye to his kids. Signed papers in case he didn’t make it back. Then packed a backpack and headed for Ukraine. Slovak friends gave him boots. One handed him a bulletproof vest. Another drove him to the border. He crossed on foot.

On the other side, friends picked him up. They drove to Kyiv—four men, fully geared up, crammed into a blue Mini Cooper (he laughs about it now). His first mission? Find his pistol. Days later, he had a rifle— and a spot in Ukraine’s special forces.

Then came the east. Bakhmut. Slovyansk. Izium. 50 men sleeping underground. Intense firefights. Not long ago, he was playing at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. Now he was crawling through mud—under fire—just to take a sh*t. What happened to life?

Russia happened. In Izium, his unit was ambushed crossing a river. One shell landed three meters behind their vehicle. Another hit just in front—shattering the windshield. Had they driven a second faster, they’d be dead. They ran for hours, ducking from cellar to cellar.

I asked Stakhovsky how war compares to high-level sport. When you have a big win at Wimbledon, you feel euphoria, he says. But you don't feel euphoria in war, not even on the good days.

He’s grateful for Western help. Especially from the U.S. But he’s blunt: “Everything we need, we needed yesterday.” This isn’t a regional fight, says the former globetrotting ace: “If Russia isn’t defeated in Ukraine, they won’t stop.”

He's done his time in the trenches. When he’s back in Kyiv, he teaches tennis to kids. “They’re in bomb shelters in the morning, but they still practice in the afternoon ... and still believe they can be great tennis players.”

Sergiy knows exactly what’s happening: “[The Russians] already lost 350,000–400,000 soldiers, & they still keep coming. "We’re talking about the general idea of the population of Russia—that it’s okay to kill people.” Sergiy Stakhovsky stands against this evil—with Ukraine, for the free world.

His team still makes wine. From a vineyard in beautiful, safer Zakarpattia—far western Ukraine. He once beat Federer on Centre Court. Then crammed into a Mini Cooper and drove to war. Maybe Ukraine’s next ambassador to the USA should be someone like Sergiy Stakhovsky?

See the above story on X. Watch my interview with Stakhovsky here.