“Tennis Mama” Elina Svitolina continues to write her successful comeback story at the French Open. At her first Grand Slam tournament after the birth of daughter Skai in October, the Ukrainian is in the round of 16 in Paris. Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus also won easily – afterwards she refused the official press conference.
“I decided to leave everything out there. Coming back after giving birth is very complicated,” said Svitolina after her hard-fought 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Russian Anna Blinkova.
The wife of the French crowd favorite Gael Monfils, who supported her in the stands after her own injury-related tournament exit, refused to shake her opponent’s hand at the net, as expected. She had already done so after beating Blinkova in the Strasbourg final due to the war against Ukraine.
Sabalenka refuses PK participation
Meanwhile, fellow favorite Sabalenka is also in top form in Roland Garros. The Belarusian also won her third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova from Russia 6-2, 6-2 and reached the round of 16 for the first time in Roland Garros.
Sabalenka then caused a controversy off the tennis court: the 25-year-old refused the official press conference and only spoke to a few selected journalists. This decision was supported by the organizer, said Sabalenka. Sabalenka explained that the reason for her refusal was that she “didn’t feel safe” when she had been questioned several times about the war in Ukraine in the past few days.
Sabalenka was repeatedly confronted with critical questions on Wednesday, but did not want to comment. Among other things, she was asked about reports about her connection to the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko – and whether she would be prepared to “blanketly condemn” the invasion of Ukraine.
After her first-round game on Monday, Sabalenka was criticized by her Ukrainian opponent Marta Kostyuk for not taking a clear enough stance against the war in Ukraine.
“It helps to have a Grand Slam victory in your pocket – that gives you so much self-confidence,” Sabalenka said on the pitch immediately after the match. The Australian Open winner is still aiming for her second major title and is considered one of the biggest challengers to top favorite Iga Swiatek from Poland, who only played against Wang Xinyu from China in the third round on Saturday.
The American Jessica Pegula, who was seeded in third place, had surprisingly failed 1: 6, 3: 6 at the Belgian Elise Mertens. Mertens reached the round of 16 in Paris for the third time.