The shadow of the invasion of Ukraine still hangs over Port d’Auteuil. On Tuesday, in the quarterfinals, Belarusian Arina Sobolenko, who took second place in the world, was opposed by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. If the first one won in two sets, then the main fact of the meeting is elsewhere. The Ukrainian woman did not want to shake hands with the Belarusian, and several exclamations were heard from the stands of the Philippe-Chatrier court.
Expected attitude in this new match with the political dimension. Arina Sobolenko herself (25) has faced a difficult context since the start of the Paris tournament. Earlier in the competition, she admitted that she did not “felt safe” during a press conference: During a tense conversation, a Ukrainian journalist called her in to explain his ties to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. In the previous round, she also had to comment on the refusal of her first opponent, another Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, to shake her hand.
His photo with Lukashenka? “Nothing bad happened in Belarus then”
Arina Sobolenko returned to journalists on Tuesday. And I tried to clarify my position. “I don’t support the war, so I don’t support Lukashenka right now”she launched. “I don’t want my country to be involved in the conflict”she went on, wanting to get away from all arguments. “I want the sport not to be involved in politics because I am just a tennis player. If I wanted to be in politics, I wouldn’t be here. be a tennis player.
Regarding the photo with Lukashenka, Sobolenko also explained. “We played a lot of Fed Cup games in Belarus. (competition between national teams, ed.)and he was with us, he took pictures of us”she justified herself. “Nothing bad happened either in Belarus, or in Russia, or in Ukraine then.”
- Roland Garros: Russian woman booed by the public Daria Kasatkina asks not to spread “hatred”
It was the first press conference by a Belarusian after a tense exchange of views last week. However, this media exercise is mandatory for all Roland-Garros participants. She managed to temporarily avoid this with the consent of the Paris tournament. However, at the beginning of the competition, she already insisted on her position. “Not a single Russian or Belarusian athlete supports the war. Why do you have to speak loud and clear about this? It’s as obvious as 1+1=2.”
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