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Aryna Sabalenka's comments on Marta Kostyuk ahead of their clash at the 2023 French Open did not go down well with tennis fans.
The upcoming Roland Garros clash between the pair has drawn interest as Ukranian Kostyuk has championed the cause to disallow Russian and Belarusian players from competing on the tour amid the Russia-Ukraine war. She has also refused to shake hands with players from both nations, most recently at the Miami Open against Anastasia Potapova.
In her pre-tournament press conference on Friday, May 26, Sabalenka was asked about the challenge of facing a player who harbored negative feelings towards her. In response, the Belarusian expressed her indifference towards Kostyuk's hatred, stating that she doesn't want to waste her time dwelling on it since she cannot change how her opponent feels about her.
“I don't want to waste my energy on this kind of stuff, you know. This is like, it's not about—it's none of my business, you know. So, if she hates me, okay. I can't do anything about that. There is going to be people who loves me; there is going to be people who hates me. If she hates me, I don't feel anything like that towards her," she said.
A fan took issue with Sabalenka's consistently flippant responses to the concerns raised by Ukrainian players.
"Tbh this has some sort of passive aggressive vibes in it, like saying "If Ukrainians will hate me more after his (Lukashenko) speech [...] If they feel better by hating me, I'm happy to help them with that" just a month ago. And treating the matter like this won't ease anything," a fan said.
Several fans called for the World No. 2 to show empathy towards the Ukrainian players given what their country is going through.
"Sabalenka should shut up once and for all. Or listen to Kalinina’s presser to try to understand a bit what the Ukrainian players are going through," another fan expressed.
"You literally got offended about a cake size... Therefore, you should be understanding for other people and accept that they can be offended when their country is being bombed and people killed and raped, but what do I know...," a tweet read.
Here are some more fan reactions to Sabalenka's comments:
"After I won Australia, I thought it's going to be easier, but it's not" - Aryna Sabalenka on her chances at French Open 2023
Aryna Sabalenka won her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year. The 25-year-old has now acknowledged that winning the title did not alleviate the pressure she faced when approaching Majors.
“After I won Australia, I thought it's going to be easier, but it's not easier. It’s the same. I still have to bring my best tennis, and the thing that I have one Grand Slam in my pocket, it's not going to help me to win this one. Everyone will come and try to beat me," she said.
Sabalenka will begin her French Open campaign against Marta Kostyuk on Sunday, May 28.
