Aryna Sabalenka has spoken out against the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, stating that she does not endorse his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sabalenka declined to speak to the media following her previous two matches at the French Open, claiming she “did not feel safe” after being challenged by a Ukrainian journalist over her position on the war, which she has denounced. But after defeating Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4 to advance to her first semi-final in Paris, the world No 2 returned to a packed press room to offer her clearest statement yet about Lukashenko.
“It’s a tough question,” said Sabalenka, asked if she supports the Belarusian president. “I mean, I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now.”
Sabalenka said photographs and videos of her in Lukashenko’s company stemmed from the 68-year-old’s regular attendance at Billie Jean King Cup matches played on home soil, pointing out that images circulating online pre-dated the war in Ukraine. She also reiterated her desire not to be drawn into political debate.
“We played a lot of [BJK] Cups in Belarus,” said Sabalenka. “He was in our matches taking pictures with us after the match. Nothing bad was happening [at] that time in Belarus or in Ukraine or in Russia.
“I said it many times already, I’m not supporting war. I don’t want my country to be involved in any conflict.
“I don’t want sport to be involved in politics, because I’m just a tennis player, [a] 25-year-old tennis player. And if I would like to be political I wouldn’t be here. I don’t want to be involved in any politics. I just want to be a tennis player.”
Yet politics were inescapable for Sabalenka from the moment she drew Marta Kostyuk in the opening round of the tournament. The match ended in controversy when Kostyuk, who is from Ukraine, was booed after refusing to shake hands following her 6-3, 6-2 defeat. It has become the norm on the tour for Ukrainians to decline the traditional post-match handshake when facing Russian or Belarusian opponents, and Kostyuk remarked afterwards that spectators who booed “should be embarrassed”.
Similar scenes unfolded after Sabalenka’s latest win, with Svitolina jeered by the crowd for ignoring the Australian Open champion as she stood leaning on the net, waiting to shake hands. It was a bizarre moment, partly because Svitolina has made it plain that she will not engage in post-match formalities with Russians and Belarusians, and partly because, as the wife of the popular French player Gaël Monfils, she has been adopted by the Parisian crowd as one of their own throughout the fortnight. Svitolina, a former world No 3 who gave birth to the couple’s first child last October, felt Sabalenka had made things worse by approaching the net.
“Yeah, I think so, unfortunately,” said Svitolina when asked if her opponent’s actions had inflamed the situation.
“I don’t know, to be fair, what she was waiting [for], because my statements were clear enough about the handshake.
“My initial reaction, don’t know, was like, what are you doing? Because [in] all my press conferences I said my clear position.
“Maybe she’s not on social media during the tournaments, but it is pretty clear. I made multiple statements that I’m not shaking hands, and she played obviously Marta as well the first round. So is quite simple.”
Sabalenka, who looked towards her box and laughed after the boos had subsided, said she had lingered at the net out of habit.
“It just was an instinct, like I always do after all my matches,” said Sabalenka, who has yet to drop a set in Paris.
“I think she didn’t deserve all these boos. I’m giving such big respect to her [for] what she’s doing after giving birth. It’s impressive.”
On that point, everyone could agree. The renaissance of Svitolina, a title-winner in Strasbourg the week before the tournament, has been the talk of the town over the past 10 days. In the previous round she claimed a notable win over Daria Kasatkina, the ninth seed and one of the few Russians to have publicly denounced the war, and a tight first set against Sabalenka suggested there might be more to come. The 28-year-old broke early in the second set, but was ultimately unable to contain the Belarusian’s power and intensity.
Sabalenka said she had lost sleep over her decision to shun the press, but insisted she did not regret the move.
“I felt really disrespected, and I felt really bad,” said Sabalenka, who will face Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals after the Czech defeated Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-2. “[A] grand slam, it’s enough pressure to handle, and I just tried to focus on myself, on my game.
“I really hope that you guys will understand me, my feelings. You know that I really respect all of you, and I [am] always open. You can ask whatever you want. You will get all the information.
“But in the last press conference, I felt like my press conference became a political TV show, and I’m not [an] expert in politics. I’m just a tennis player. I just need to step back and just bring focus on my tennis and on my game.”