Aryna Sabalenko reached the finals of Indian Wells 2023, where she will meet with Olena Rybakina (born in Moscow, but has been playing for Kazakhstan for many years). The reigning Australian Open champion talks about the war in Ukraine and says that the players of Russia and Belarus are not to blame for what is happening in the world right now.

Aryna SabalenkoPhoto: Ella Ling / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

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Aryna Sabalenko says that the players from Russia and Belarus are innocent

Lesya Tsurenko (athlete from Ukraine) refused to play in the third round of Indian Wells against Ariney. He attributed everything to a panic attack after a discussion with the head of the WTA about the war in Ukraine.

At the press conference, Sabalenka spoke about this incident and the war in Ukraine, and the second racket of the world, among other things, said that the athletes of Russia and Belarus are not to blame for everything that is happening in Ukraine now.

“No one can control other people’s emotions (he is not talking about Lesya Tsurenko’s self-renunciation). Yes, of course there is a lot of tension between us. I am still convinced that I have not done anything bad to Ukrainians.

Neither I, nor the Russian athletes, nor the Belarusian athletes, none of us did anything wrong. Some of us are really trying to help, but we don’t say it publicly,” says Aryna Sabalenko, quoted by News.ro.

“I’ve been through so many hard times and unfortunately I can’t say that because really, who would believe a girl from Belarus? I believe that Tsurenko’s defeat was not just a panic attack or a political situation.

I had a very difficult time with her coach (not Nikita Vlasov, who accused Sabalenka of supporting the regime of Alexander Lukashenko) last year due to the way he treated me. So I think that guy put a lot of pressure on her, and that explains what happened.” – Aryna Sabalenko.

Sabalenko says that the WTA cannot do anything about the war in Ukraine

“He is doing his best. What can they do? No one is in control of this situation. We all try to maintain maximum calmness in the locker room and clearly show that it is not our fault, that we all understand the Ukrainians and feel sorry for them,” he concluded. Sabalenka.

The last act in Indian Wells is actually a repeat of this year’s Australian Open final, Olena Rybakina and Arina Sabalenko will meet in the final (the athlete from Belarus won in Melbourne, score 4-6, 6-3, 6-4). )

The head of the WTA is accused of supporting the war in Ukraine – Testimony of a top player