The Russia-Ukraine conflict has taken over the tennis world. It has divided the sports circuit into two broad categories, on one side there are tennis players like Aryna Sabalenka who just want to play their game and do their part. On the other side, there are some tennis players who are just interested in the wider political picture, which is causing a conflict or attracting attention to Russian or Belarusian tennis players who are putting their all into their game on the court.

However, some Grand Slam tournaments have banned Russian and Belarusian tennis players. Some prestigious tournaments like Indian Wells and Miami Open are giving equal opportunity to Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian players to have a fair chance in the sport.

Aryna Sabalenka on the locker room tension 

While everybody was getting ready to take part in the Miami Open that kicked off a few days ago. On the occasion of Media Day, the 24-year-old Australian Open champion was asked in a press conference about the tension between the Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarus players. The tennis player was questioned by a reporter and asked if she had ever anticipated any tension in the locker room, but said that she had since become accustomed to it.

She said, “It was really, really tough for me because I’ve never faced that much hate in the locker room. Of course, there are a lot of haters on Instagram when you’re losing the matches, but in the locker room, I’ve never faced that. It was really tough for me to understand that there’s so many people who really hate me for no reason, like no reason. I mean, like I did nothing.”

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Further, she also shared that in the beginning, she was really struggling with the locker room tension. And felt bad, as if she had done something terrible.

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However, the 24-year-old tennis beauty has always extended her support to Ukraine. Giving assurances that she will come forward and show her support for Ukraine at the right time. Additionally, last year also, the world number two made similar observations about how her suffering in the sports world and is not relevant to the actual warlike situation going on.

When Sabalenka shared her concern about the Russia-Ukraine crisis 

Last year, the Australian Open champion expressed her concern over the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian crisis. She described how the external situation has affected the tennis world. Even at that time, she focused on the fact that there was no happiness in the players’ area. Not like the way it used to be before the warlike situation.

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Additionally, she also focused on the fact that the conflict is between the countries and not between the players on the tennis court. The 24-year-old tennis player’s cheerful outlook hasn’t altered with the passage of time, and the intense situation hasn’t influenced her behavior on the court.