World No. 2 Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka has spoken about the 'hate' she faced in the dressing room as she continued to compete amid the war in Ukraine.
After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, most sports banned athletes from the country and their allies Belarus from competing internationally. However, tennis chiefs took a different stance - permitting them to compete under a 'neutral flag'.
World No. 2 Sabalenka has continued her rise to stardom and won her first Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open in January after also reaching last year's ATP Tour finals. The Belarus star lost in the finals at Indian Wells last week, and has now opened up about the 'hate' she has faced during the war in Ukraine.
"It was really tough to understand that there's so many people who hate me for no reason," said the 24-year-old ahead of this week's Miami Open.
"It was really tough for me because I've never faced that much hate in the locker room. There are a lot of haters on Instagram when you're losing matches, but in the locker room I've never faced that.
"I had some, not like fights, but I had some weird conversations with, not the girls, but with members of their team. It was tough. It was a tough period. But, now it's getting better."
Tensions continued at the recent Indian Wells Masters as Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from her clash against Sabalenka due to suffering from a 'panic attack'.
Tsurenko claimed the panic attack happened after a meeting with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief executive Steve Simon and accused the organisation ofoffering minimal support to Ukrainian players.
At the opening Grand Slam of the season, the Ukraine ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, called for action to be taken after a Russian flag was waved during a match between players from the warring countries.
Sabalenka was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2021, but was forced to miss last year's tournament as SW19 bosses banned players from both Russia and Belarus from competing. She could return to the All England Club this summer as Wimbledon bosses are on the verge of reversing the ban.
The policy change would be a welcome one for Sabalenka, along with the likes of Russian stars Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.
