Aryna Sabalenka, the second-ranked player in the world and from Belarus, advanced to the second week of the French Open after defeating Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia. However, she made headlines for refusing to attend the mandatory post-match news conference, due to feeling unsafe during a previous news conference where she was asked about her support for President Lukashenko’s stance on the war in Ukraine. The French tennis federation approved her decision for Friday’s match, but no decision has been made yet about future news conferences. The WTA supported Sabalenka’s decision, and French Open officials arranged a smaller interview with a selected “pool” of journalists. Sabalenka’s decision follows Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open two years ago due to a confrontation over attending news conferences which led her to drop out of the tournament.
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