2021 N. Osaka (JPN) 2022 A. Barty (AUS) 2023 A. Sabalenka It doesn't come as a surprise because Russian and Belarusian players have been competing under a neutral flag for a while, but BYN (Belarus) is left out of the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
Sabalenka first player to win Australian Open withouth her country's name on trophy
ATPSunday, 29 January 2023 at 00:30
Updated at Friday, 22 December 2023 at 14:43
Aryna Sabalenka won the 2023 Australian Open, but her country’s name, Belarus, won't be featured on the trophy due to the War in Ukraine.
Sabalenka enjoyed probably the best two weeks of her life in Melbourne. She beat all of the opponents on her way to the final without losing a set, and even though Elena Rybakina managed to take one set from her, she still won her maiden Grand Slam title.
As every champion, she received the trophy, and her name was also engraved on it, but this time, there will be a small difference. Sabalenka won't have her country's name engraved at the trophy.
Belarus, the country that the 2023 Australian Open champion represents, is widely perceived as supportive of Russia's actions in Ukraine. The country has been excluded from many competitions that Russia got excluded from as well, and its tennis players aren't allowed to compete under the country's flag.
Sabalenka played the entire Australian Open without a flag and thanks to winning the title, she became the first player whose country name will be omitted from the trophy.
It's a tradition to have the name of the country of the winner alongside the name of the winner, but that won't happen this year. She was asked about it and Sabalenka simply said:
"I think everyone still knows that I'm a Belarusian player. That's it."
The Belarusian was also quizzed about the importance of her triumph in her homeland, Belarus. Acknowledging that there are not many successful athletes in the country, Sabalenka was proud of her triumph.
"I don't know. I mean, I think famous in my country? It's not so many good athletes in my country. That's why I'm famous there. I think right now I have a little bit, yeah, more respect to myself. I kind of starting to understand that I'm actually good player. I have to respect, not only respect everybody, respect myself as well, you know?"
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