'Not My Business': Svitolina Reacts To Sabalenka Avoiding Open Press Conference

Saturday, 03 June 2023 at 13:00

Updated at Tuesday, 17 June 2025 at 12:32

byZachary Wimer

Elina Svitolina was asked about Aryna Sabalenka avoiding an open press conference after her Roland Garros win, but the Ukrainian didn't think it was her business.

Aryna Sabalenka was grilled by a Ukrainian journalist about her previous support of the country's president, whose government has been accused of various human rights abuses over the years.

Due to that tense exchange, Sabalenka didn't want to do an open press conference, anticipating the same reporter there explaining that she wanted to protect her mental health.

She ended up doing a press conference, but with a selected few journalists handpicked by the event. It was a very interesting move by the event as they have now opened themselves to the possibility of players cherry-picking reporters in the future.

That situation happened as Svitolina was playing her match at the event. She was asked about Sabalenka's move to "protect her mental health," considering that Svitolina's own mental health took a beating in the previous year, with the war ongoing in her country and its effects on her family directly.

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However, the Ukrainian player didn't want to comment on Sabalenka's decision specifically, as she didn't know what exactly happened.

"Well, it's tough to say from my side, because obviously, I have been for couple of hours on the court. Haven't really seen anything from that, from her situation.It's her choice to do that. Yeah, it's tough for me to judge, and I'm just literally had no time to see what happened outside of the court. I guess like it's not my business."

The tension on the WTA Tour has been palpable for a while, and things likely won't improve dramatically in the coming weeks. Especially with Wimbledon coming up and the country's support of Ukraine during that time. It wouldn't be a surprise to see some tense exchanges in London with the British press known to be quite fierce.