Tennis player Tsurenko gives a masterclass to Mykolaiv athletes

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv to give a masterclass. Photo: NikVesti

On Saturday, 25 October, Ukrainian professional tennis player Lesia Tsurenko arrived in Mykolaiv to give a free masterclass for young athletes.

The event took place on an indoor tennis court on the territory of the Central Stadium, the correspondent of NikVesti reports.

Lesia Tsurenko is a Ukrainian professional tennis player, a member of the Ukrainian national team in the Billie Jean King Cup. Her highest ranking in the WTA is No. 23 in the world. She has won WTA tournaments and defeated world tennis players, including Ashleigh Barty, Venus Williams and Karolina Pliskova. The athlete was born in the Rivne region, but spent her youth in the city of Pivdenoukrainsk, where she started playing tennis. She also came to Mykolaiv for competitions and lived here for some time.

Mark Konovalenko, director of the «Spartak» tennis courts, said that the idea to invite a professional athlete to Mykolaiv arose in the summer. According to him, Lesia Tsurenko responded to the invitation to support children from Mykolaiv region.

«The idea came up in the summer when I thought that I would like to bring our children a sports star. Lesia is a real star, she is from Mykolaiv region, she was one of the top 23 tennis players in the world. We communicated back in the summer when she came to Kyiv and held masterclasses. We met there, and she immediately responded to my offer to come to Mykolaiv and hold a masterclass for our children. Lesia said she would do it for free because she wanted to support the Mykolaiv region. She did not expect so many children to come — about 45 participants came, while, for example, in Odesa, there were only 14. We also had children from the region — from Voznesensk, and even a few from Kherson, who train in our groups. Next year we plan to invite Elina Svitolina,» said Mark Konovalenko.

A tennis masterclass in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti

After the masterclass, young tennis players Yehor and Yevhen shared their impressions. They said that the meeting with the professional athlete was an important experience for them and added motivation to continue training.

«I really liked that such events give children the opportunity to play and understand what your goal should be. Lesia said that she started playing at the age of nine, then gave up tennis for a while and missed the important period from 16 to 18, but then returned and started playing professionally at the age of 18. "I liked that she came and that we could play with her — the children also liked it very much, they all actively asked questions,» says Yehor.

«I think this is a very interesting and fun event. We gained a lot of new experience and were able to play with a tennis professional. When else will we have such an opportunity?» added Evhen.

Tennis players Yevhen and Eor. Photo: NikVesti

After talking with the children, Lesia Tsurenko noted that participation in such events inspires her as much as the young tennis players and helps to support the development of sports in the regions.

«Incredible impressions, even now I feel a lot of emotions from being here. I have so many memories of this place. When I saw the number of children and parents who had prepared and were waiting for the meeting, I was sincerely happy to share my energy with them. This is very important to me and I hope it will help the children to love tennis even more. Such events are extremely necessary because they encourage young people to develop. A lot of children came, which means that the development is really ongoing. We need to continue to interest children, because they are our future generation. Yesterday, a similar event was held in Odesa, and earlier in Kyiv and Sumy,» said Lesia Tsurenko.

Kateryna Zakharova, head coach of the tennis department of the Mykolaiv Regional Communal Integrated Children's and Youth Sports School, said that after the start of the full-scale invasion, most of the students went abroad, but now the section is gradually recovering and the number of children is growing.

«About 80 children are currently studying in our section — this is as of the beginning of 2025. After 2023, when we resumed our work, there were very few children — about 15-20% remained, because many went abroad and continued their tennis careers there. We started almost from scratch, but now we have 86 children, which is a great result. We plan to continue to increase the number of pupils, in particular through events such as masterclasses. All the children are motivated and enjoy their lessons,» said Kateryna Zakharova.

Hello! I am Darina Melnychuk, the author of this article.

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Photo report

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv to give a masterclass. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv to give a masterclass. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

Lesia Tsurenko came to Mykolaiv with a master class. Photo: NikVesti

As a reminder, the Ukrainian Table Tennis Championship among men's teams of the Central Region took place in the city of Uman. Among the 18 participating teams, the athletes from Voznesensk won bronze medals of the Championship.