Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has ended her previous press boycott at the French Open with a surprising statement: She does not support the war and therefore does not support Lukashenko.

After the exciting quarter-final match at the French Open, the Belarusian winner Aryna Sabalenka waited in vain at the net for her Ukrainian opponent Elina Svitolina to shake her hand.

Before the match, Svitolina had made it clear that she, like all other Ukrainian professionals, would forego the usual handshake with opponents from Russia and Belarus.

Svitolina accused the 25-year-old Sabalenka of inciting boos by waiting at the net.

Then the Belarusian ended her previous press boycott at the French Open with a surprising statement: “I don’t support the war, that means I don’t support Lukashenko in particular,” the world number two said in Paris on Tuesday.

Sabalenka had twice before refused to attend the usual press conference after critical questions about her stance on the war and Lukashenko, in agreement with the organisers, citing her “mental health”. Instead, she spoke to a representative of the women’s tennis organisation WTA, these statements were made available to journalists.

Switolina criticised an inequality and recalled Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who had been punished for it in the past. “I think it should be equal for everyone,” she said.

Ukraine’s Svitolina, who played her first Grand Slam tournament in October, was beaten 4-6, 4-6 in the match. Opponent Aryna Sabalenka reaches the semi-finals.