"Who is gonna believe a Belarusian girl?" - Sabalenka Hits Back After Controversy

Saturday, 18 March 2023 at 13:30

Updated at Tuesday, 11 March 2025 at 16:52

byErik Virostko

Aryna Sabalenka responded to the comments made by Lesia Tsurenko and her coach, Nikita Vlasov, after reaching the Indian Wells Open final.

Sabalenka made it to the Indian Wells Open final after beating Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3. However, her tournament was slightly overshadowed by controversy from earlier rounds.

Her third-round opponent, Tsurenko, withdrew just before their third-round match. It was a very weird withdrawal, and it later became public why. Tsurenko revealed that she had a panic attack after a conversation with the WTA CEO, Steve Simon.

Tsurenko's coach, Nikita Vlasov, also made some comments about Sabalenka, which didn't help the whole situation. The Belarusian player spoke about those comments after reaching the final in Indian Wells.

"Nobody can control the emotions of others. And I think WTA are doing their best to kind of control it. Yeah, of course, it's a lot of tension between us. I mean, I still have this belief that I did nothing bad to Ukrainians; not me, not Russian athletes, not Belarusian athletes, not one of us did something bad. Even some of us are helping. Not publicly."

"So what else I can say? I think WTA are doing really great job to support both sides, and whatever -- I mean, I cannot control their emotions. I was through so many bad things, and unfortunately, I'm not able to say that because who is gonna believe a Belarusian girl? I mean, talking about her coach. I have been through also through hell, and I understand that... I don't know."

Of course, Sabalenka didn't know the specifics of what happened to her third-round opponent, but she thought that the withdrawal wasn't so much related to the current political situation.

"I think Tsurenko withdrew, there was more than a panic attack or more than a political situation. I think there is something more. I had really tough situation last year with her coach the way he act to me. So I think that guy put so much pressure on her, and that's why that happen."