Dhe Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka won the politically explosive tennis duel with the Ukrainian Elina Switolina and reached the semifinals at the French Open. The favored second in the world rankings prevailed 6: 4, 6: 4 against Switolina with their powerful attacking game on Tuesday. As expected, Switolina did not shake hands with her opponent after the game. Because of the Russian war of aggression, Ukrainian professionals do not shake hands with their competitors from Russia and Belarus after the games, which is otherwise common in tennis, and do not pose for photos together.
After the win, 25-year-old Sabalenka waited for her opponent at the net, although Switolina had previously announced that she would not deviate from that line. There were boos from spectators. “She’s such a strong opponent,” said Sabalenka. The 28-year-old Switolina had shown strong performances in her first Grand Slam tournament after the birth of her daughter last October.
After critical questions about her attitude to the war and the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, the Australian Open winner Sabalenka recently refused the usual press conference in consultation with the organizers and claimed her “mental health”. Sabalenka meets Czech outsider Karolina Muchova in the semifinals. The 26-year-old continued her surprising triumph, defeating former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
Previously the world number 43. Muchova never got past the third round at the French Open, and she was also in the semifinals at the 2021 Australian Open. “It’s been an incredible two weeks,” she said. Although Pavlyuchenkova had reached the final at the Stade Roland Garros in 2021, she was recently worried about the continuation of her career due to a knee injury and is currently only 333rd in the world.
