"We were woken up by bombs" - Yastremska sisters reflect on fleeing War in Ukraine

Dayana and Ivanna Yastremska fled their country a few days ago before arriving in Lyon for the WTA event and following their doubles match, the sisters reflected on the horror experienced.

Speaking after their doubles loss to Knoll and Garcia Perez the older Yastremska expressed proudness of her 15-year old sister while admitting to being very distracted by happening back home:

"I am proud of my sister but at the same time, we did not have too much energy with what is happening in Ukraine."

Younger sister Ivanna did not speak to the press but wore a Ukrainian flag prior to the flag and after the match. Speaking further on her experience, Yastremska said:

"On Wednesday, we were at home in Odessa. We were spending time with our family before making this long trip to Lyon with my father. The evening was pleasant, but the next morning we were woken up by bombs.We didn't realise or understand what was going on. It was crazy. It wasn't a film or a video game -- we were very shocked."

She further said:

"We left the apartment to take shelter in the underground car park while the bombs continued to explode. The journey took four hours to reach the Danube on the Romanian border. We were afraid of bombs or Russian tanks. There was a long line of cars at the border and we ended up on foot. That's where we said goodbye to our parents, because our mother stayed in the end. On the other side, after passing the controls, people were nice and gave us food and drink."