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If you seen my article about Olicrypto - the first tokenized professional tennis player, you already know about Oleksandra Oliynykova and the OLICRYPTO game.
She likes to be called Sasha, and being only 20 years old opens a long tennis carrier. OLICRYPTO - the game will create a link between the Cryptovers and her tournament results as the tournament prize money will be used to power OLI Reserves and to reward the holders of $OLI tokens. The OLI token is powering the game and will give perks and voting power to the "players". They will participate to discussions and can manage the hero's decisions through voting. The earned benefits, the tournaments prize money, will be shared by players and characters.
Oleksandra Oliynykova (OLICRYPTO) - About tennis!
Good morning Sasha! Can you describe yourself in 5 words?
Enduring. Stubborn. Straightforward. Impulsive. Tennis-a-holic :-).
The meaning of the “2006” tattoo?
The year I started playing tennis (was 5 years old).
I know you have a brother. Any more siblings?
One is more than enough - no :)
I noticed is that you are born in Kiev. Do you want to share this story?
That’s mainly my parents’ story - not mine. We moved to Croatia as refugees when I was 10. So I know how refugee camps look & smell not from TV news only, but I don’t like to talk about it.
Do I feel myself Croatian or Ukrainian? Definitely Ukrainian. I think the Ukrainian part of my life is ahead of me, not behind.
First ITF title in Heraklion in 2018, and no other title since then. Were the expectations to big from a 17 years old girl?
Nope, absolutely not. The story is actually much more interesting.
From being 15 years old, I was excluded from all the development programs of Croatian Tennis Association. There are some powerful people in Croatian tennis who do not want me to be a tennis player, mainly because I am not “the real Croat” so I can not, by their opinion, represent their country.
As I am from a low-income family - my father is a taxi driver, and my mother is a cleaner in a shopping mall, - they reasonably suggested that cutting me from federation & local sponsor funds will be enough to block me from competitive tennis.
But they were wrong. In the middle of 2017 I got a special scholarship from International Olympic Committee - directly from Switzerland, above the heads of local sports beaurocrats. It was not a huge amount - but it allowed me to practice & play normally, just like I am “the real Croat” having average financing from the federation.
But when I started to win - including the title you mentioned - those people started to be asked very uncomfortable questions - for instance “why this girl never been invited to play for the junior national team - despite by results she is by far the best player in her generation”? So they decided to recall my scholarship - and after some time & multiple attempts they succeeded.
So at the very end of 2018 year I lost the scholarship - without any reasonable explanation, despite the fact that BY PERFORMANCE I was one of the best in that particular Olympic program.
It was quite a hard hit for me, so it took almost a full 2019 year to recover and find out how to stay in tennis further. But I survived again - and at the end of 2019 I played several semifinals and finals, in the very beginning of 2020 won a title in doubles. And then COVID happened.
So I would say that logistics issues were much more a factor for me than my mentality. Now things been changed, mainly because that incredible support I have from Bitcoin Cash family. So I look very optimistic into the nearest future.
Winning a game when playing bad or losing but having a great match?
Winning the whole match - playing good, bad or ugly :).
Ok, I must say that loss is a part of our job. The world-best players actually win 60-70% of their matches during the season, except maybe top-5. So I can accept loss, but I never say: “It was a good match, I like it”. I hate to lose!
Clay, hard or grass?
I have never played on grass. From two major surfaces now I’d prefer to play on hard, though I grown up on clay. That’s a strange change in my perception happened in 2019-2020 (maybe, it is COVID side effects :)))).
Left handed or right handed?
Right-handed, 2-handed backhand.
The tennis player that inspired you?
What inspires me is not what tennis players they are, but what humans they are. So my answer is - Sara Errani. She is the biggest heart person I know in the women tennis.
Who’s better? Elina Svitolina or Donna Vekic? Why?
Very simple. Svitolina. She is a better player in almost any component of the game.
Who will be WTA #1 at the end of 2022?
I am pretty mainstream here: Barty or Osaka. The former is the world-best all-courter, the latter is the world best aggressive baseliner. As these are two dominating style in modern female tennis, odds are high for one of these two.
Who’s better? Nadal, Federer or Djokovic (or maybe Cilic)? Why?
All three are great champions & legends. So we can speak about personal preferences only, but this is not better, this is “who of three I like more”. My answer is Federer because his game is very aesthetic, his game looks so easy & airy, though you need to work super hard all the life… and you will not be Federer anyway.
Do you support a football team?
No.
Have you ever visited Romania?
Yes, it is actually a very special country for me. I played my first international tournaments in Romania. It was Tennis Europe U12 tournaments, two in a row, and I was 10 years old only debutant. At all it was pretty good start as I even won two matches! Also it was kid’s day there, and I hitted a bit vs. Monica Niculescu.
Tournament final and you serve for match! Strong serve or play It safe?
It should be strong… But it is not always strong in the real life. And this is the issue. Players should hold the play which bring them positive results. I and my team work a lot on the beginning of the point, so I would have my hand up from the first shots. But I am live human, so there is a temptation to just put the ball in… and usually it has bad consequences :))).
Oleksandra Oliynykova (OLICRYPTO) - About cryptocurrencies
Gradually, then suddenly. Actually I use Bitcoin Cash for quite a long time - mainly as a payment & value transfer tool. You see, pro players relationships with money are very special.
Very often we are on the go for weeks or months. One week we can send money home, another week we need to receive… We need to rely on pretty significant amount of money any given time, but may not actually use them, so it would be nice if money is an investment asset at the same time…
Several months ago we started using Bitcoin Cash in our tennis team & family transactions. I liked the experience from the very beginning, so when the idea to become Global Ambassador of Bitcoin Cash was born and eventually realized, my feelings were very natural as I represent something I like & use every day.
So my crypto travel actually started with BCH, and I am very happy I am staying here. Then later I learned (and still learning) what is Defi, exchanges etc. But Bitcoin Cash is my first crypto love forever.
Does the “Bitcoin Cash Ambassador” tag adds extra pressure on your life?
Now - opposite. It is very pleasant to feel BCH community support - you guys are amazing, you really my tailwind.. Actually, if I’d have an opportunity to officially play under Bitcoin Cash flag, I do this - not because of money, but because of incredible people here.
The spark behind OLI token?
Well, actually something was “in the air” inside my team for years. For good or for bad, but I & my team chose the way of an independent player. I just value my freedom too much, and I am 100% sure that sports corporations distort “the fair play” basics of tennis.
Despite an independent player`s tennis life is challenging - you do not have resources or connections corporate players have - I all the time meet people who help me. Every single act of help was not that big, but together those people help me to stay afloat at the most difficult times of my career.
So we thought about the mechanism to unite & reward these “smaller rivers” of support, and give back & thank all supporters when we are able to do it.
Then I became Bitcoin Cash Ambassador and learned about SLP tokens. That was a moment when I understand - it’s doable, technically simple and probably will be supported by community. Why not to try?
What’s your expectation from Olicrypto – the game?
My greatest expectation is to create a working & efficient mechanism which can be copied by other athletes.
In this mechanism all players, including characters like me or my coaches, token holders or patriarchs, should be comfortable, rewarded and entertained.
The last is very important because for me OliCrypto is damn interesting first.
If speaking about the “tactical” development of OliCrypto - my team wants to do a lot of things besides of tennis. It includes merch, partnerships, physical meet ups & tournament invitations.
But tennis is primary of course. So if the game main character - me :) - will enter Top-100 of world female tennis everybody gonna be happy.
Are you looking forward for the first vote made by OLI holders? What if you will prefer a tournament but the OLI holders will vote differently?
We talked about it before the game starts. My answer is: rules are rules, for all players including me. If we have something to vote, my team’s responsibility is to inform players properly. Then they discuss and make a final decision.
But we have an excellent community of OLI token holders. I believe, we won’t have a lot of such situations. You see, I & my coaches are inside the process, so sometimes we just do not see the whole picture by “the neutral eye”. Our community may provide this neutral look, so I see here community adding value only.
Any “wild-card” crypto investment? My one was CAKE in December 2020 and was a good choice!
Ok, my funds, both personal and OLI Reserve, are now placed mostly in BCH, BNB and CAKE. There are still some in BUNNY, but we will leave from there because of unreasonably high fees.
My wild-card investment is $BANANA & ApeSwap. Why? Again it is very simple. The passive income yield generation (farming, pooling etc.) is a crucial for Athletic Career Token model. The idea is that any community can support an athlete of their choice - without obligation & necessity to constantly sponsor them.
Instead, what community needs is just pool the resources and let an athlete use the farming proceeds, keeping the base input intact or close to intact. This gives both athlete and community time & sustainability - so no pressure like “Tomorrow we will spend all money & have no funds (again)”.
As you see, it is very important to have several reliable, trusted yield farming providers. On current market there is PanCakeSwap is #1 and then… nothing. I mean there are tons of projects but almost every has a kind of hidden problem: one is unaudited, another has high fees, another hacked, another has a poor marketing etc.
$BANANA & ApeSwap started in March, already have more than $400 mln. in TVL, very good community cooperation, low fees, and CAKE-like UI with some fancy-shmancy features. I would say that they may be a real contender for #2 spot as BSC yield farming provider.
What do you know about #Club1BCH?
I know that people writing quality content on READ.CASH form a kind of virtual association. I met this tag many times on read.cash, but I must admit that I do not know a lot about it.
Tennis or crypto? What’s more important?
The Olicrypto game managed to merge these two things. So - yes, tennis is always #1 priority, but crypto now is an organic part of our team being. For instance, we discussed today after the practice should we re-invest part of OLI Reserve into “crypto emerging stocks” - smaller cryptos that do not have farming, but may appreciate in value, like for instance $AXS or $SXP, or we need to stick to yield-generating assets and bigger coins like BCH & BNB. Why it is important for tennis? Because right decision will provide us with resources necessary to optimize tennis logistics in the hometown, cover travel costs etc.
Oleksandra Oliynykova (OLICRYPTO) - Q&A with #Club1BCH
@Crackers Do you think crypto can play a bigger part in tennis as sponsorships or maybe winnings paid out in crypto?
100%. I dream about it & I work on it. If Olicrypto game is successful, I will try to share my experience with as many players as I can reach. Crypto can be a bridge between athletes & fans, it may bring athletes more freedom, it may bring fans the level of involvement they can never think is possible.
@Crackers What inspired you to play tennis? Do you think the Williams sisters are doing enough to promote tennis to teenagers?
I was born to be a tennis player. Really. I always wanted to play, I never imagined myself doing something else, through the whole of my life from being a pre-school girl hitting the fuzzy yellow balls first time in my life.
Playing tennis is a part of me - as a hand or a leg. So I do not need inspiration in a classical sense, I am “inspired by default” :-))).. More frequently, I need some rest :). But after a couple of days having a pause, I am always ready to play again.
Regarding Williams sisters - tricky question. They are legends, but they do not have any obligations except playing great tennis. What they successfully do and with this they inspire teenagers worldwide. All the rest is a job for international tennis authorities, national tennis federations, governments etc. In some countries they do it better, in some countries worse.
@Eybyoung What can you say about gender dominance in crypto? Some are assuming that crypto-trading and crypto investing is something exclusive for males.
Honestly, I do not see or experience any problems here. My keys, my coins, my profits & my losses - who cares whether I am a girl or boy, young or old, blonde or brunette :-)?
@Anabiya Someone said that crypto is for man and girls could not manage. Where did you got the motivation to get actively involved with crypto?
Even if I meet a gender skepticism one day, I think one of my strongest professional skills is ignoring what others think about me, or my tennis, or my crypto. I always happy if people like what I do. But if they do not like - they always can pass by. If for some reason they want me to hear them - I simply won’t.
If people do not like my token, or me doing crypto - they are free to go buy DOGE. If they like - I am very happy to see everybody in the game.
@Carabageac94 Strongest opponent you ever had? Biggest name you played against?
Naomi Broady, Danka Kovinic. I lost both times. Now I want re-matches as soon as possible.
@Jane Who convinced you to become BCH ambassador?
No one convinced us (the Oli team). It was my decision. I gave my manager the task to check whether is possible or not, and than it became a reality.
@jiroshin Did you liked the custom made avatars?
YEEEESSSS!!!
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