At the media day for this week’s ATP-WTA Miami Open, Australian Open winner Sabalenka was questioned about her previous comments on “tensions” in the locker room involving Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarus players. Sabalenka fell to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the Indian Wells final on Sunday.
Sabalenka commented, “I’ve never encountered that much disdain in the storage space My experience was extremely difficult.”
Tension in the Locker Room
Sabalenka claimed that at first, she had difficulty adjusting to the locker room environment. She commented the relationship with some of the Ukrainian females in the locker room is still not ideal, so I was having a lot of trouble with that because I felt so terrible like I have done something.
I afterward understood that I wasn’t to blame and that I hadn’t hurt them in any way. The remainder of the Russian and Belarusian athletes, I’m fairly certain, did not harm Ukrainians, she added.
Now that I’ve realized everything I’m feeling is just a mix of emotions, I just need to sort of ignore it and concentrate on looking after myself while realizing I’ve done nothing wrong. Additionally, she said, I have no control over the emotions of others.
- Sabalenka claimed that at first, she had difficulty adjusting to the locker room environment.
- The remainder of the Russian and Belarusian athletes, I’m fairly certain, did not harm Ukrainians.
- Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked player in Poland, criticized the WTA for not supporting Ukrainian players.
There are some of the girls that are pretty aggressive toward us, albeit not all—I’m still speaking to several Ukrainians. So I’m simply avoiding that,” Sabalenka continued.
The top-ranked player in Poland, Iga Swiatek, blasted the WTA for not doing enough to assist Ukrainian tennis players, saying that “everything we talk about in tennis is about Belarusian and Russian players.” The two-time Australian Open winner from Belarus, Victoria Azarenka, disagreed with the statement.
Some players exhibit distinct emotions and behaviors. In general, I don’t necessarily agree with Iga’s viewpoint. Azarenka, a member of the WTA Players Council, advised her to consider the work that has already been done before making comments.
Last year’s British Wimbledon organizers excluded Russian and Belarussian players due to their nationality. Sabalenka said she hopes they will reconsider the decision.
The decision last year was pretty upsetting to me, but I couldn’t change it. And I merely hope that they would allow us to perform this year,” she added.
