Aryna Sabalenka opens up on harrowing experience with Ukrainian opponent’s coach amidst Russia – Ukraine war controversy

The Belarusian tennis player reveals the struggles she faced representing her country in tennis amidst the Ukraine-Russia war.

Aryna Sabalenka opens up on harrowing experience with Ukrainian opponent’s coach amidst Russia – Ukraine war controversy

Aryna Sabalenka (Image via: Tennismajors)

In a recent interview with L’Equipe, current World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka opened up about the struggles she faced during the Russia-Ukraine war. Being from Belarus, the only country officially backing Russia in the war, Sabalenka has been put in an awkward position in several interviews and press conferences.

While she has clarified in multiple instances that she does not stand in support of the war or with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s ideologies, she claims to still receive hate simply for being a representative of the country.

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During her interview with L’Equipe, Sabalenka recalled an incident where the coach of a Ukrainian tennis player confronted her after a match loss. “One day a coach of a Ukrainian player told me ‘I’m glad you lost.’ I went to the WTA office. I cried like a baby, unable to speak,” she recalled. “He followed me and shouted that I was throwing the bombs. We don’t support war. So what do you expect from us? That we shout ‘no war’?”

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Sabalenka recalled incidents where she was antagonized during the war

Elina Svitolina refused a handshake with Sabalenka after their French open encounter
Elina Svitolina refused a handshake with Sabalenka after their French open encounter (Credits: BBC)

In a similar incident, she recalls being insulted by Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko’s coach, Nikita Vlasov. During their third-round match at the Indian Wells Masters in March, Lesia withdrew from the match, citing panic attacks. Her coach, however, hurled antagonistic slurs at the Belarusian, implying that she was responsible for the attacks on Ukraine.

After her victory against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina during the French Open 2023, Sabalenka recalls that Elina refused to shake hands with her at the net.

As per the tennis professional herself, dealing with being hated publicly for the war, which was completely beyond her control, was depressing. She also revealed that she contemplated quitting tennis for a while but that it was her late father’s memory, who passed away in 2019, that kept her going. “Honestly, I thought that I was going to stop playing tennis because it was so bad. But it was our dream with my dad, and I was like, ‘I cannot quit. He wouldn’t accept this.’”

Sabalenka is one of the few tennis players from Belarus or Russia to have shared their opinion on the war and openly denounced it. Her coach, Anton Dubrov, has said that the war is a highly censored topic in Belarus and that they are not free to express their opinions about the war; doing so could risk them being put in jail.

After being on an emotional low during the 2022 season due to the war, Sabalenka has managed to put the bad experiences behind her and complete the dream she and her father saw together: winning a Grand Slam title at the 2023 Australian Open.

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