MEXICO CITY >> Elina Svitolina put on the yellow and blue colors of Ukraine and beat Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Monterrey Open, deciding she could do more for her country by playing than boycotting the match.

Ukraine’s number one beat Russian Anastasia Potapova.

‘I’m playing for the help of the Ukrainian army and people in need’

Ukraine's women's number one Elina Svitolina dedicated her victory over Russia's Anastasia Potapova at the Monterrey Open to the Ukrainian army, and said she wanted to "unite" tennis behind her country.

'For me, playing the match here, I'm not playing only for myself. I'm playing for my country.'

Elina Svitolina put on the yellow and blue colours of Ukraine and beat Anastasia Potapova of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in the opening round of the Monterrey Open.

The 27-year-old revealed that she decided she could make more of an impact by playing tennis than boycotting the event. 'All the prize money that I´m going to earn is going to be for the Ukrainian army.'

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina decided not to boycott Tuesday's match against Russia's Anastasia Potapova and won 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Monterrey Open.

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina decided not to boycott Tuesday's match against Russia's Anastasia Potapova and won 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Monterrey Open.

MONTERREY, March 2 — Ukrainian top seed Elina Svitolina blasted aside Anastasia Potapova at the WTA Monterrey tournament on Tuesday a day after threatening to boycott the game against her Russian opponent. Svitolina said on Monday she would not play against players from Russian or Belarus —...