From war to Wimbledon... Ukraine refugee all set for tennis glory

Illia Snaksarov draped in the flag of Ukraine.

Three years ago, Illia Snaksarov was hitting a ball off the wall of a Glasgow hotel with a tennis racquet. This summer he’s playing at Wimbledon.

The 13-year-old had arrived in Glasgow after his family fled their war-torn home following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Having travelled from their house in the town of Khmelnytskyi, in the region of Podolia, via Poland and London, Illia, mum Svitlana and dad Volodymyr arrived in Glasgow unsure where their future lay, waiting to be given a place to live.

Illia with dad Volodymyr and mum Svitlana.

Temporarily housed in a single hotel room surrounded by concrete between the M8 and the Broomielaw in Glasgow, thousands of miles from the familiarity of his family and friends in Ukraine, the opportunities for Illia to play outdoors were few.

But the determined youngster found a way, taking his tennis racquet and ball to rally against himself, hitting shots off the wall round the side of the hotel.

Now his tenacity and resilience have seen him fire an incredible ace – seeing off stiff competition to win a place at this summer’s junior Wimbledon finals.

Illia will follow in the footsteps of Ukrainian tennis legends like Elina Svitolina, Elena Baltacha and Andrei Medvedev by donning his whites to play on the most famous courts in tennis, at SW19.

The teen will represent the West of Scotland at Play Your Way to Wimbledon, which gives players under 18 the chance to follow in their tennis heroes’ footsteps. And mum and dad will be there to watch their son take his turn at the home of tennis.

It’s a long way from the days when Svitlana had to chastise her tennis-mad son for playing inside their family home, which has now been obliterated by the conflict.

Speaking via a translator, Svitlana recalled how everything changed for the family in 2022.

She said: “There was a helicopter landing area close to our home and because of that there was a lot of shooting and fighting. We had to leave.”

The family fled through Poland, eventually reaching the UK later that year, where they were processed to Glasgow as part of the government’s response to the conflict.

Illia’s big break came when he was discovered by Lana MacKenzie, who was working as a translator at the hotel. A keen tennis player and member of the Western Club in the city, she offered to take him to the club to play tennis against other kids, rather than a wall.

Illia’s natural ability caught the eye of club coaches who gave him lessons and included him in the junior programme. Soon he was competing for Western in the West of Scotland inter-club leagues, landed a place in the West of Scotland squad and moved on to tournaments run by the game’s governing body, the LTA.

And this year he made it to the county finals of their Play Your Way to Wimbledon event, besting 60 other regional clubs.

Illia Snaksarov playing tennis at Glasgow’s Western Tennis Club.

The pupil of St Mungo’s Academy in Glasgow’s east end trains four times a week with dad Volodymyr on municipal courts at Queen’s Park and Kelvingrove, as well as coaching sessions at Western, where next generation stars like Hamish Stewart – who narrowly missed a place at Wimbledon – also play.

Illia and his parents now have a home in the Calton area of Glasgow. Volodymyr ran a grocery store in Ukraine. These days, as well as training Illia, he makes embroidered bracelets, which he sells at concerts and sporting events to raise funds for the war effort in Ukraine. He has now designed special bracelets based on the designs of each of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments.

Volodymyr, who has two sons from a previous marriage, one of whom is a soldier, the other a tennis coach, also ran junior tennis tournaments, having been inspired by watching Boris Yeltzen, former president of the Russian Federation, playing tennis on TV in the 1990s.

Speaking via an interpreter, he said: “I got excited about tennis from that point and started organising tournaments for kids to be involved in, taking a course in sewing in order to make tennis outfits for them.”

Svitlana worked as a childminder in Ukraine and now volunteers in a charity shop while taking English classes at college.

Illia, who speaks seven languages, said: “It’s been great to play at Western, because I didn’t have anywhere to play, I didn’t know any courts to go to.

“When I came here I started doing training sessions to work on my game. Then I started playing league matches after a couple of months.”

His favourite player is Spanish former world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

He said: “He plays good, aggressive tennis, and has a balanced mentality in games. I have a good serve, and can play aggressive forehands.”

Having fled the conflict and left their lives and work behind, tennis has given the family a new focus.

Svitlana said: “Our main goal in coming here was for Illia to be safe.”

Volodymyr added: “We are so grateful for the training sessions.

“It is so exciting, we are really happy about what’s happening. It’s such a good start and is a chance for him to respect what he can achieve. We are so grateful to the club for what they have given him.”

For Illia, his summer holidays will be spent preparing for Wimbledon.

He said: “I don’t think that much about home now. In Ukraine I wasn’t playing as good as I am here, I have improved a lot. The support they’ve given me is very good.

“I’m really excited about playing at Wimbledon. I would like to become a pro, and maybe one day play at Wimbledon as a senior, not just a junior.”

Western coach Julie Gordon said: “If you can see it, you can be it. Illia has been hitting with Hamish Stewart, who very nearly qualified for Wimbledon, so it’s great for him to be around inspirational figures like that.

“There are lots of pathways to professional tennis, like scholarships, and these things are possibilities for Illia. And you have to have a dream.”