BOYNTON BEACH — The attacks started on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, early during the Russian invasion and 98-year-old Leonid Stanislavskyi was determined to stand his ground.

“I am not afraid,” Stanislavskyi said. “I lived through the Second World War. I already cried.”

But Stanislavskyi eventually was convinced it was not safe to stay. began a journey in early March that led to him being reunited with his daughter in Poland and then on to South Florida, where he played in the ITF Super Senior’s World Individual Championships in Boynton Beach.

Stanislavskyi, along with being a refugee from a war-torn country, also is the world’s oldest competitive tennis player.

Stanislavskyi lost, 6-1, 6-1, Monday to George McCabe of Oxford, Ohio, in a match that lasted about 90 minutes with just the typical breaks. He was very happy with the way he played against a “younger” opponent.

McCabe is 90.

But this match was not just about tennis. Not to the 50 or so spectators who lined the court at Coral Lakes Country Club and asked for photographs. Not to Stanislavskyi, who wore a warm-up jacket and T-shirt proudly displaying his country’s blue and yellow colors, at times clutched a small Ukrainian flag and draped himself in a larger flag following the match. And not to McCabe, who while wearing a USA shirt and hat, was very respectful of his opponent and said everything Stanislavskyi has endured in his personal life and on the court is “an accomplishment.”

Also, not to Dan…