Sabalenka says she ‘did not feel safe’ in news conference

Aryna Sabalenka said no Russian or Belarusian athletes support the war.
Photo: PHOEOSPORT

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka says she did not do an open news conference after her French Open third-round match for her own “mental health and wellbeing”.

Sabalenka, 25, was challenged by a Ukrainian reporter about Russia’s invasion, supported by Belarus, after her opening two matches in Paris.

She says she did not “feel safe” during Wednesday’s news conference.

On Friday, she said: “I should be able to feel safe when I do interviews with the journalists after my matches.”

Sabalenka, seeded second, won 6-2 6-2 against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday.

Afterwards, instead of doing the usual news conference which is open to all journalists at Roland Garros, she spoke to a small group of reporters who were hand-picked by tournament organisers.

The BBC was not among the selected reporters.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka told the reporters: “For my own mental health and wellbeing, I have decided to take myself out of this situation today, and the tournament has supported me in this decision.”

Belarus is an ally of Russia and allowed troops to use its territory to launch last year’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sabalenka has met Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s key allies, on a number of occasions and has also trained in Russia in the past year.

Earlier this week, she said “nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war” when asked by the Ukrainian journalist to answer if she supported or condemned the war.

After her second-round match, Sabalenka was again pressed by the same reporter on whether she supported Lukashenko.

“I know they still expect some questions that are more about the politics and not so much about my tennis,” said Sabalenka, who could become the new women’s world number one at the end of the tournament.

“For many months now I have answered these questions at tournaments and been very clear in my feelings and my thoughts.

“These questions do not bother me after my matches. I know that I have to provide answers to the media on things not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe in the press conference.”

In 2021, Japan’s Naomi Osaka was fined by French Open bosses for not doing a post-match news conference and the next day withdrew from the clay-court Grand Slam to protect her mental health.

The four Grand Slams later said they wanted to “create meaningful improvements” in supporting players and that they empathised with the pressures players may face.

A Roland Garros spokeswoman said the tournament supported Sabalenka’s request not to do an open news conference, adding she expected her to do them again in the future.

-REUTERS