Ukrainian tennis star Sergei Stakhovsky was vacationing with his family in Dubai when Russian forces attacked his country.
He made the tough decision to leave his wife and three young children at their home in Hungary and return to his homeland to join the fight. He is now a member of the military reservists helping defend the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
As a Russian military convoy closes in on the city and fear looms in the air, Stakhovsky, 36, says he is ready to do whatever he wants. He told CNN's Brianna Keeler on Thursday that his goal is to help save Ukraine for its citizens and its children.
"I was born here, my grandparents are buried here, and I want to have a history to tell my kids," he said. "No one here wants Russia to free them, they have freedom and democracy ... and Russia wants to bring despair and poverty."
Stakhovsky retired from professional tennis just weeks before the Australian Open, ending an 18-year career. Now he is reunited with fellow civilian soldiers in Kyiv – and is grappling with his decision.
He feels guilty for leaving his family
Once the 31st ranked male player in the world, Stakhovsky once defeated Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013 in a big upset.
In January, he was playing his last professional match at the Australian Open. Now his retirement days include fear and uncertainty, hearing air raid sirens and explosions all the time.
Stakhovsky said he believes people like him – untrained but staunch patriots in the war – make up a big part of the fighters defending Ukraine.
But he said leaving his wife and children to harm himself was not an easy decision.
"It is impossible to call this without hesitation. I have a wife and three children," he said. "If I had stayed home, I would have felt guilty that I didn't come back (Ukraine), and now that I am here, I feel guilty that I left them at home."
He said that his wife is also grappling with his decision.
"Of course she was crazy," he said. "She understood the reason for me, but for her it was a betrayal. And I completely understand why she feels that way."
He said that he has not told his children under the age of 7 who believe he is in a tennis tournament.
"My wife didn't tell them and I didn't tell them ... where I'm going," he said. "I think they'll figure it out soon."
He is one of the many famous Ukrainian athletes to be involved in the fight against Russia.
Ukraine's government has asked men between the ages of 18 and 60 to fight against Russian aggression.
Other sports stars in the Moldovan soccer league, including FC Sheriff Tiraspol's manager Yuri Vernydub, have returned to Ukraine and taken up arms. So are the champion boxers Oleksandr Usik and Vasily Lomachenko.
"If they want to take my life, or the lives of people close to me, I have to do it," Usyk told CNN from a basement in Kyiv. "But I don't want that. I don't want to be shot, I don't want to kill anyone, but if they kill me, I won't have a choice."
Stakhovsky faces a similar fear and prays that he will make it out alive and return to his family. He told CNN that civilian fighters like himself have received "a basic class on how to shoot" in Ukraine. "I think people like me will be the last resort."
And while he hopes he doesn't have to shoot anyone, he says he will if he has to.
"I'm not sure there's one person who is ready to tell you now if he's ready to sacrifice life. I want to see my kids... I want to see my wife, that's mine." The goal is," he said. "If a missile hits the house, is it sacrificing your life? No. It's just being hit."
She hopes that when her children learn the truth about her whereabouts, they will understand why she decided to fight for their homeland.
"Because a country I love... I want it to still be on the map, to develop, to get better, to become European, and eventually my children can see my country change."