2023-05-26 15:57:03
A special game, of course. For the first round of Roland-Garros on Sunday, chance wanted Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, world number 2, to face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. The latter is one of the players very critical of the response, too soft for her taste, brought by the authorities of world tennis to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“I try not to think about those negative things,” Sabalenka said. It doesn’t concern me in the end. It doesn’t matter if she hates me! I can not do anything about it. There will always be people who love me and hate me. If she hates me, it’s not reciprocated. »
“The lack of a handshake, I can understand”
At the US Open last year, the Ukrainian, for example, refused to greet former world number 1 Victoria Azarenka at the end of their match, contenting herself with touching her racket in protest. She could repeat this gesture after her first round against Sabalenka, seeded number 2 and winner of the first Grand Slam of the season in Australia at the start of the year.
“Regarding the absence of a handshake, I can understand it, said the Belarusian again during the media day preceding the start of the tournament. It’s difficult [pour eux] to shake hands with a Belarusian or a Russian. What message would they convey to them? »
As in April during the Stuttgart tournament, where she had reached the final, Sabalenka repeated that if she could “put an end to the war, [elle] will [t] “, while affirming that “sport should not be politicized”. “We are just athletes. If it suits them not to shake my hand, so be it. »
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