Russian Vera Zvonareva displays ‘no war’ message during her match against Danielle Collins at the Miami Open

Russian Vera Zvonareva displayed a “no war” message during her third-round defeat to Danielle Collins at the Miami Open.

The 37-year-old – a former world No. 2 and a finalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010 – was routed 6-1 6-4 by her American opponent.

But it was what she had written on her pink visor that drew the eye, with her anti-war statement the latest to come from players whose countries are involved in the Ukraine conflict.

Rublev said: “In the beginning, before I wrote this on camera, I was receiving many like bad messages.

“I was not even thinking how many people will see this or where it will go or something. I just wrote what I feel in that moment. That’s it.

“After this, somehow it gets over 22 million views. I think I was one of the first sportsmen in the world who say this. In the end, all the messages I start to receive, almost 100%, all of them were only positive, like, ‘Thank you,’ stuff like that.

“We’re athletes. We want to compete. We are sacrificing so many things.

“I think sport should be outside of politics because everyone says this, but in the end it looks like still it’s not happening.”