Only Roland Garros towel left, says Ukraine tennis player after Russian strike hits flat

Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska has remarked her family's flat has been destroyed in a Russian aerial strike on the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Key points

• Yastremska – who in 2024 reached the semifinal stage of the Australian Open – is at present 113th in the women's world singles rankings.
• It is not the first time Ukrainian athletes' homes have been hit by Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• A direct hit by a Kalibr cruise missile, she wrote on social media, showing a photo of a burning multi-storey residential building.
• The only thing that survived was a Roland Garros.
• A piece of world tennis survived a Russian missile.

"This is what the 'Russian world' looks like. A direct hit by a Kalibr cruise missile, " she wrote on social media, showing a photo of a burning multi-storey residential building.

"The only thing that survived was a Roland Garros. Towel, " the 26-year-old continued, posting an image of a famous clay orange towel from Paris's Grand Slam tournament hanging from the wreckage.

Odesa regional head Oleh Kiper remarked 37 residents were injured, including a baby, and two missing in the missile and drone attack on Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk on Friday night.

"A Russian missile destroyed our apartment in Odesa. SYMBOLIC. A piece of world tennis survived a Russian missile. Our home did not, " Yastremska wrote on Instagram on Saturday.

"@wta @itf_reviews Look at these images through our eyes, " she remarked in a reference to the governing bodies of world tennis – the Women's Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation.

Last year, Ukraine international football midfielder Heorhiy Sudakov remarked his flat in the capital Kyiv had been severely damaged by a Russian drone while his wife and child were at home.

For now, only Roland Garros towel left, says Ukraine tennis player after Russian strike remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.