The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka assured Wednesday that he was “just” an athlete and that he had “nothing to do with politics”, referring to his forced absence from Wimbledon and the fact of competing without a flag in US Open because of Russia’s war, supported by Belarus, in Ukraine.
“It’s complicated and it gives me a lot of pressure. I just try to live it like that, that I’m just an athlete and I have nothing to do with politics. I just want to play to the fullest and make people enjoy themselves ,” Sabalenka said at the press conference after her victory over the Czech Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
The Belarusian player, number six in the world ranking, is not included in the Wimbledonlike the Russian players, and spent that time training in Miami.
“It’s like I had a pre-season again. I worked very hard, and I worked a lot on my serve. It was a difficult moment, especially when I was training and there was Wimbledon on TV. I always turned off the TV because I wasn’t I can watch,” he said.
Sabalenka credits this sporting aversion as increasing her motivation for New York.
“I think so (he encouraged me), I worked very hard. I was denied that opportunity and I worked very hard in view of this tournament,” he said.
The Belarusian player will play in the semifinals of the US Open for the second year in a row and will face one between the Polish Iga Swiatek and the American Jessica Pegula.
Source: La Verdad
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