{"id":304940,"date":"2023-06-06T22:03:40","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T22:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=304940"},"modified":"2023-06-06T22:59:41","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T22:59:41","slug":"star-accused-of-flaming-tensions-in-political-tv-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=304940","title":{"rendered":"Star accused of flaming tensions in 'political TV show'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> smacked a forehand winner to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the first time, then strode forward.<\/p>\n

Placing both hands atop the net tape, she leaned forward and stared directly at Elina Svitolina<\/a>, her Ukrainian opponent.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion whose nation, Belarus, helped Russia invade Ukraine to begin a war that now is in its 17th month, knew that Svitolina would not participate in the usual post-match handshake.<\/p>\n

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Like other players from Ukraine, including Sabalenka\u2019s first-round opponent at Roland-Garros<\/a> last week, Svitolina has avoided that traditional greeting after any match against someone from Russia or Belarus, for obvious reasons.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although not, apparently, obvious to the second-seeded Sabalenka in that moment; she explained \u2014 while speaking with the media after avoiding news conferences after the preceding two contests \u2014 that she went to the net out of \u201cinstinct".<\/p>\n

Nor, apparently, obvious to some members of the crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier for Sabalenka\u2019s 6-4, 6-4 victory, because there was a smattering of boos directed at Svitolina afterward, thinking she was breaching tennis etiquette, not taking a stand related to what is happening in her country.<\/p>\n

Watch Roland-Garros 2023 live and free on<\/strong> 9now<\/strong><\/a>.\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

When she saw Sabalenka standing there after the match, Svitolina said, \u201cMy initial reaction … was like, \u2019What are you doing?'\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked whether Sabalenka might have inflamed the situation by waiting at the net, Svitolina replied: \u201cYeah, I think so, unfortunately".<\/p>\n

"Maybe she's not on social media during the tournaments, but it is pretty clear. I made multiple statements that I'm not shaking hands, so it's quite simple.<\/p>\n

"I don't know, to be fair, what she was waiting for, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next up Sabalenka will play unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka returned to the standard Q-and-A setting with reporters, after skipping two such sessions because, she said, she \u201cdid not feel safe\u201d after being asked about Belarus and Ukraine at her news conference last week \u2014 which was attended by a journalist from Ukraine who now is no longer at the tournament \u2014 and wanted to protect her \u201cmental health and wellbeing".<\/p>\n

Sabalenka said that she \u201cfelt really bad not coming\u201d to do interviews and \u201call those bad feelings was in my head, I couldn\u2019t fall asleep.\u201d She also said she didn't regret it, because she \u201cfelt really disrespected\u201d and felt as if the occasion \u201cbecame a political TV show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch Roland-Garros 2023 from May 28. Every match ad free and on demand.<\/strong> Centre court coverage in 4K UHD on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Sabalenka said she did feel safe, \u201cprobably because I had a few days to switch off\u201d and because \u201cnobody\u2019s putting words in my mouth".<\/p>\n

One of the topics of earlier news conferences was raised again: her relationship with Belarus' authoritarian leader, President Alexander Lukashenko.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want my country to be involved in any conflict. I said it many times, and you know where I stand. You have my position. You have my answer. I answered it many times. I\u2019m not supporting the war,\u201d Sabalenka said, adding a moment later: \u201cI don\u2019t want to be involved in any politics. I just want to be a tennis player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A reporter asked whether she supports Lukashenko.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt's a tough question,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t support war, meaning I don\u2019t support Lukashenko right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Svitolina had become a fan favourite during this tournament, at least in part because this was her first major in nearly one and a half years after being away from tennis while having a baby \u2014 which is why she came to Paris \u201cwith zero hopes, with zero expectations", she said, even as someone who twice was a slam semi-finalist \u2014 and because she is married to a French player, Gael Monfils, who was in the stands.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Still, Svitolina said she was not surprised to hear some negativity from the crowd, because she had seen what happened when other Ukrainians refused to shake hands with opponents, win or lose. Maybe, she said, the tournament or the WTA Tour should make clearer to everyone why that's the case.<\/p>\n

She also thought it was not necessarily fair that Sabalenka went unpunished for sitting out news conferences, noting that Naomi Osaka was fined \u2014 and eventually withdrew from the French Open \u2014 two years ago after she declined to meet with journalists.<\/p>\n

Svitolina pointed out that she also has dealt with tough questions at Roland-Garros.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not escaping. I have my strong position, and I\u2019m vocal about that,\u201d Svitolina said, adding that she is not going to try to get people to like her \u201cby betraying my strong belief and strongest position for my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Aryna Sabalenka smacked a forehand winner to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the first time, then strode forward. Placing both hands atop the net […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":304944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=304940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304949,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304940\/revisions\/304949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/304944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=304940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=304940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=304940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}