Belarusian Sabalenka defeated Ukrainian Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the French Open last night .
Sabalenka had not attended her two previous news conferences following her third and fourth round matches last week.
But Sabalenka resumed her regular media duties after reaching the semi-finals.
Of course we know, Belarus is a close ally of Russia.
However at the news conference Sabalenka clearly said…..
“ I don’t want my country to be in any conflict; I don’t support the war,”
“ I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now.”
I was impressed by this statement.
But I wonder if her attitude was appropriate right after the end.
Ukrainian players typically refuse to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian rivals in protest at the war.
But Sabalenka waited at the net in expectation of a post-match handshake.
As expected, Svitolina ignored Sabalenka,
and Svitolina was booed.
After that she said,
“I don’t know why she was waiting, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake,” .
While watching this scene,I felt a little sorry for Sabalenka,
However I couldn’t agree with the crowd in Paris who booed this Ukrainian player.
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