Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka refuses interview on US Open Ukraine fundraiser

Belarus' Victoria Azarenka has refused to comment on a US Open fundraising initiative for Ukraine, despite committing to the tournament's charity match. The former world No 1 has enjoyed a good relationship with her country's President, and Belarus has admitted to allowing Russia to stage part of their invasion of Ukraine from their territory.

The USTA announced on Monday that they would be staging an exhibition match as part of their bid to organise the sport's largest fundraising initiative to support Ukraine. The match will be held at the site of the US Open, and the tournament director confirmed that Azarenka accepted a request to compete in the event.

But it has emerged that the Belarusian two-time Grand Slam champion refused an interview with the New York Times to discuss the match and the USTA's wider fundraising efforts, despite US Open boss Stacey Allaster sharing the world No 20's willingness to participate. "It was a quick response," she said of her conversation with Azarenka, after calling the 33-year-old and asking her to play.

"She said, 'This is a player choice, and I want to play.'" Azarenka is the first Russian or Belarusian player to commit to the exhibition, but it is still not known whether she will take to the court for the event, being held on Ukraine's Independence Day of August 24. The New York Times requested an interview with the Belarusian for an article about the match, and she declined "through a spokeswoman for the WTA Tour".

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NYT also said the spokeswoman in question, Amy Binder, "referred a request to confirm Azarenka's participation in the exhibition to Azarenka's agent, Marijn Bal, who did not respond to an