Aryna Sabalenka once again clarified that she doesn’t support the war or Belarus’ regime right now after reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals.
The Australian Open let her tennis do the talking as she cruised past Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-4 to reach her first Roland Garros semi-final.
Sabalenka was flawless throughout her 1 hour and 38 minute performance which sees her into the last four in Paris for the first time, where she will face Karolina Muchova.
However as expected it was what happened after the match that caused headlines as Sabalenka was waiting at the net for some kind of signal from Svitolina.
That didn’t happen though as Svitolina had her head down walking to her chair with the Ukrainian being booed by some of the fans inside Philippe-Chatrier.
After her win, Sabalenka said that going to the net was instinct and once again clarified her position that not only is she against the war but against Lukashenko, “I don’t know. It just was an instinct like I always do after all my matches,” Sabalenka said about the incident.
“Well, we played a lot of Fed Cups in Belarus. He was in our matches taking pictures with us after the match. Nothing bad was happening that time in Belarus or in Ukraine or in Russia. And I said it many times already, I’m not supporting war. I don’t want my country to be involved in any conflict.
“I said it many times, and you know where I stand, you know. You have my position. You have my answer. I answered it many times. I’m not supporting the war.
“And the thing that I don’t want sport to be involved in politics, because I’m just a tennis player, 25-years-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.
“I mean, I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now.”
This is the strongest statement from Sabalenka yet about the war as she looks to focus on her Roland Garros campaign.
As for Svitolina, the Ukrainian thinks that Sabalenka waiting at the net inflamed the situation and admits she was expecting the boos, “Yeah, I think so, unfortunately,” Svitolina replied when asked whether Sabalenka’s actions encouraged the crowd’s booing.
“I don’t know, to be fair, what she was waiting, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake. Secondly, no, it was quite expected. I was expecting that. Whoever in this situation loses, I guess, gets booed, so I was expecting that. It was not a surprise for me.”
‘I felt disrespected’
Today was the first time Sabalenka held an open press conference since the second round.
The Australian Open said that she felt disrespected by journalists and felt her press conferences were turning into a political TV show, “Just the way I was made feeling and I felt disrespected,” Sabalenka stated.
“I felt like journalist try to put the words in my mouth. I didn’t feel comfortable. This is just the way I felt. No, I don’t regret the decisions. I felt really disrespected, and I felt really bad. I mean, 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 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 expert in politics. I’m just a tennis player.
“Yeah, I just need to step back and just bring focus on my tennis and on my game. Yeah, and I feel good that I did it and I feel sorry for you guys that you didn’t have chance to chat with me. But I’m here today, and I am ready to give answers for every question you have.”
Sabalenka will hope that she can fully focus on her tennis as she is halfway to the calendar Grand Slam should she win the next two matches.
The next test is against Karolina Muchova which Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 1-0.
