“Not felt safe”
Tennis star Sabalenka refuses press conference
6/2/2023, 8:58 p.m
Aryna Sabalenka receives several questions about the Ukraine war and her political position at the French Open. Now the Belarusian decides against a usual press conference. She justifies this with regard to her mental health.
After critical political questions in the course of the tournament so far, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka did not give an open press conference at the French Open. This decision was made by the player and the Roland Garros tournament, said a spokesman for the French tennis association FFT.
“For my own mental health and well-being, I decided to pull myself out of this situation today and the tournament supported me in that decision,” Sabalenka was quoted as saying in a written transcript the organizers made available to accredited journalists. After her third round victory at the clay court tournament in Paris, Sabalenka was instead interviewed by a pool of selected journalists, the FFT spokesman said. He did not comment on who made this selection.
At the previous press conferences in Paris, Sabalenka had been asked, among other things, about her message on the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The Australian Open winner said she would end the war if she could.
“I answered these questions at tournaments for many months and was very clear in my feelings and thoughts,” Sabalenka was now quoted as saying. “I know I have to give the media answers that have nothing to do with tennis or my matches, but I didn’t feel safe in the press conference on Wednesday.” Among other things, she did not comment on questions about the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko.