Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenko, after defeating Russian Kamilla Rakhimova in the third round of Roland Garos (6:2, 6:2), held a limited press conference with selected journalists, at which she stated that she did not feel safe when asked about attitude towards the war in Ukraine and Alexander Lukashenko.
After the match on June 2, Arina Sobolenko did not give the traditional press conference. Instead, the organizers invited only a few journalists to the athlete with pre-selected questions. None of them dealt with war or politics. After the press conference, the tennis player made a statement.
– After the last match, I spoke to the media as usual. I know that journalists are waiting for answers to questions that have more to do with politics than my tennis.
I’ve been answering these questions in tournaments for many months now and I’ve been very clear about my feelings and thoughts. These questions don’t bother me after matches. I know that I have to answer questions not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe at the press conference.
I have to feel safe when talking to journalists. For the sake of my own mental health and well-being, I decided today to stop such an unpleasant situation, and the tournament supported me in this decision.
It has been a tough few days and now I am focused on continuing to play well in Paris,” Sobolenko said (quoted from pressball.by).
Recall that at a press conference after winning the second round of Roland Garros, the Belarusian tennis player was asked questions about the celebration of the New Year with Lukashenka in 2020 and Russian aggression against Ukraine. Sobolenko declined to answer both questions.
