Roland-Garros 2023: "I don't want to talk about politics today", slips Belarusian Sabalenka

“Let me rest with politics, please. I don’t want to talk about politics today. I made all my statements, you have them”, slipped with a smile but also a touch of weariness the world number two Aryna Sabalenka in a press conference. Constantly brought back to the war in Ukraine, the winner of the Australian Open is struggling to forget her past marks of support for the authoritarian Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko. In a tense exchange, a Ukrainian journalist asked him to justify his links with Alexander Lukashenko after the first round. The Belarusian didn’t show up for a press conference in 2nd and 3rd round wins: “I felt bad emotionally after a press conference. Like I said, I couldn’t sleep. The only thing I can do well in this life is play tennis. So I try to focus on the things that are in my control, and the things that I can do. There was never a moment when I thought to myself: I don’t want to play tennis. It’s been a great 2 weeks, with some emotional challenges. And I’m going to come out of it even stronger.” “I don’t support the war, which means I don’t support Lukashenko right now,” the Belarusian said after qualifying for the semi-finals.