Caught up in politics, Sabalenka only wants to talk tennis

Aryna Sabalenka would like to just speak about tennis, but as the war in Ukraine goes on and she struggles to distance herself from links to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, she has decided to stop talking at the French Open.

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Sabalenka, in the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time, has skipped the press conference after her past two matches, and there is nothing to suggest that will change after she plays Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in a politically-charged duel on Tuesday.

Sabalenka's reason for opting out of her media duties is that she "did not feel safe" after she fended off a series of tough questions over her stance on the war as well as her links to the government in Belarus.

The world number two did not comment on reports she supports Lukashenko and refused to "flatly condemn" Russia's invasion of Ukraine when asked by a reporter after her second-round win last week.

Belarus is a key military ally of Russia in the conflict.

"She left two press conferences very affected," said tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, who is allowing Sabalenka to skip her obligatory media commitments for now.

Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk was booed by the crowd after refusing to shake Sabalenka's hand in the first round.

Kostyuk, who has refused to shake the hands of Russian and Belarusian players since the invasion of her country, said she had no respect for Sabalenka for not individually denouncing the role of Belarus in the war.

Beyond her nationality, Sabalenka is paying for her association with Lukashenko in the past. In 2018, she requested a one-to-one meeting with Lukashenko, according to Belarusian state news agency Belta.

The following year, in an interview with the country's largest independent news