Aryna Sabalenka is the Australian Open champion and a Belarusian, period
Aryna Sabalenka staged a great comeback to defeat Elena Rybakina in three-sets to win maiden Grand Slam title at the 2023 Australian Open.
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Aryna Sabalenka with the 2023 Australian Open trophy
“I think everyone still knows that I’m Belarusian player. That’s it.” These words from Aryna Sabalenka after winning the 2023 Australian Open women’s singles title on Saturday continue to echo. It’s almost 24 hours after the young girl won her maiden Major against Elena Rybakina in a pulsating three-setter and all talk is of her nationality.
Social media is caught in a whirlpool, where they are trying to suck Sabaleka into the vortex. She refuses to get caught in the trap, enjoying the moment of winning her first big title. These days, it is a big issue to be a Russian, Belarusian, or a player from Ukraine. Players are hunted and hounded. There are sensible people like Sabalenka out there, refusing to get swayed by emotions.
She knows any statement will be (mis)interpreted as the Western media is obsessed. It seems, they eat, sleep dream Russia and Vladimir Putin. Frankly speaking, this tennis controversy over no uniformity in Grand Slams is now getting irritating. If the four Majors cannot arrive at a consensus, then how can you expect others to fall in line.
Sample this, Sabalenka was not allowed to play at Wimbledon last year. Her nationality was the issue, not her tennis. Was that fair? Did she wage war? No. Then what are players being hauled over the coals for, just because they hold a passport from a nation which is caught in a war.
Big-time ITF should interfere on ban of Aryna Sbalenka and others from Wimbledon
The ITF (International Tennis Federation) should also step in. The Majors must arrive at a consensus. If Australia can allow Russians in, so can Britain. They have to get over this colonial mentality. Sabalenka was asked if she missed Wimbledon in 2022.
“I mean, missing the Wimbledon was really tough for me. It was a tough moment for me. But, I mean, I played US Open after. It’s not about Wimbledon right now. It’s just about the hard work I’ve done. Yeah, it’s just about the hard work I’ve done,” she said after the win on Saturday. That, in a nutshell, sums up her emotions.
The sad part is Western media reeks of bias, it comes out stinking in each article. Long ago, Boris Becker, when he was winning Wimbledon said he does not like “Boom Boom Becker” as it had a war-like connotation. Can people learn from what Becker said in 1985, that sport is not war.
Sabalenka has learned to scale the peak, having won two doubles Grand slam titles earlier. She needs love and support. Asked what she learned from the defeat in New York, she said: “What did I learn? I learned that I have to be a little bit calmer on the court and I don’t have to rush things. I just have to play my game, be calm, and believe in myself, that I can actually get it,” she said.
Adding further, the Belarusian said, “I think during these two weeks (in Melbourne) I really was super calm on court, and I really believed in myself a lot, that my game will give me a lot of opportunities in each game to win this title.”
At a time when the Olympic Council of Asia is looking at ways and means of including Russia in the Asian Games this September in Hangzhou, China, the change is startling. At the same time, it also shows how the OCA is being sympathetic towards the Russians, though the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is caught in a quagmire.
Tennis faces its moment of truth and the hardest tennis. One cannot isolate players on nationality and even vaccine status. Hope 2023 will be a learning curve.
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S Kannan
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