“I don’t want to talk about politics today”, slips the Belarusian Sabalenka

2023-06-08 21:12:44

By the editorial staff

Posted
yesterday at 8:39 p.m., Update yesterday at 9:12 p.m.

Aryna Sabalenka THOMAS SAMSON / AFP

Beaten to the end of the suspense by the surprise Karolina Muchova, the world number 2 did not hide her weariness about questions concerning her position on the war in Ukraine.

«Let me rest with politics, please. I don’t want to talk about politics today. I made all my statements, you got them“, slipped with a smile but also a touch of weariness the world number two Aryna Sabalenka in a press conference. Constantly brought back to the war in Ukraine, the winner of the Australian Open is struggling to forget her past marks of support for the authoritarian Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko. In a tense exchange, a Ukrainian journalist asked him to justify his links with Alexander Lukashenko after the first round. The Belarusian did not appear at a press conference during 2nd and 3rd round victories: “I felt emotionally bad after a press conference. Like I said, I couldn’t sleep. The only thing I can do well in this life is play tennis. So I try to focus on the things that are in my control, and the things that I can do. There was no moment when I said to myself: I don’t want to play tennis. It’s been a great 2 weeks, with some emotional challenges. And I’ll come out stronger“. “I don’t support the war, which means I don’t support Lukashenko right now,” the Belarusian said after qualifying for the semi-finals.