During the 2023 Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka found herself at the center of attention not just for her stellar performance.
After a very long time, the Belarusian appeared in a press conference. After her third-round win, she spoke only to selected journalists and following Sabalenka's victory in the fourth round, she spoke only to one reporter from the WTA.
It was all because she was not feeling safe during her press conference after the second-round win, but that changed after the quarterfinal victory over Elina Svitolina. Responding to the political queries, the 25-year-old explained why she appeared on the pictures with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko before.
"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."
Sabalenka has also reiterated that she has answered these questions many times and that her position is clear. She does not want her country to be involved in any conflict, and she does not support the 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."
The star player has also made her stance clear on the intersection of sports and politics. Her clear disapproval of Lukashenko under the current circumstances represents a significant shift in her public statements.
"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."
One of the journalists asked a very directed question, quizzing the World No. 2 about whether she supports Alexander Lukashenko. Making things clearer than before, at least for some, Sabalenka stated:
"Like it's a tough question. I mean, I don't support war, meaning I don't support Lukashenko right now."
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