Aryna Sabalenka has said that she does not support the Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, as she returned to conduct her mandatory press duties following her French Open quarter-final win against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Sabalenka, the second seed, defeated Svitolina 6-4, 6-4 to reach the French Open semi-finals for the first time. Sabalenka had skipped her previous two press conferences following tense exchanges with a Ukrainian journalist, who aggressively questioned her stance on the war and her links with Lukashenko.
Upon her return, Sabalenka addressed a significantly bigger audience than any other player during the tournament and she fielded more political questions than ever before.
Sabalenka was directly asked if she supported Lukashenko, prompting her to distance herself from the dictator for the first time.