Aryna Sabalenka has claimed for the first time that she does not support Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko “right now”. And the world No 2 said at the French Open that she went to the net to shake Elina Svitolina’s hand automatically – and the Ukrainian did not deserve to be booed.
The Belarusian did not attend her last two press conferences after claiming she did not feel “safe” after clashing with a Ukrainian journalist on Wednesday. After she beat Svitolina 6-4 6-4 to reach the French Open semi-finals on Tuesday, Sabalenka launched a charm offensive and attempted to answer all questions.
She started with her stock answer: “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.” But asked directly if she supported dictator Lukashenko – who is facilitating the Russian invasion of Ukraine – she added: “Like it’s a tough question. I mean, I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now.”
Ukrainian Svitolina accused Sabalenka of inflaming tensions but waiting for her at the net after her win even though the Ukrainian refuses to shake the hands of Russian and Belarusian players. Asked why she did it, the world No 2 claimed: “I don’t know. It just was an instinct like I always do after all my matches.
“I think she didn’t deserve all this boos. I think I’m giving such a big respect to her what she’s doing after giving birth. It’s impressive and I’m really impressed by what she’s doing. I give big respect to her.”
Sabalenka had claimed she did not attend her previous press conferences for “my own mental health and well-being”. She explained: “I always really respect press conference. I’m always open in my answers. I really felt bad not coming here. I couldn’t sleep. Like all those bad feelings was in my head, I couldn’t fall asleep.
“I felt really bad not coming here. I really respect all of you guys. Thank you so much for coming here, for being interested in me. I just felt so bad not coming here. 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.
“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.”
She will now face Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals after the Czech world No 43 beat Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 6-2. It is the fifth straight year that an unseeded player has reached the semi-final in the women’s singles here.
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