The second racket of the world from Belarus Arina Sobolenko held a secret press conference after defeating Russian Kamila Rakhimova in the third round of Roland Garros-2023. Earlier, Sobolenko refused to condemn the war in Ukraine, which Russia continues to wage with the support of the Belarusian authorities.. Arina refused to answer a question about a letter she signed in 2020 in support of the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, and also did not react in any way to rocket attacks on Ukrainian territories.. In order not to receive uncomfortable questions anymore, the 25-year-old Belarusian tennis player, after her next fight, wanted to make the press conference a secret and invited only media representatives loyal to her.. This decision was supported by the Belarusian organizers of the tournament and did not inform the rest of the journalists about the press conference of Sobolenko, Tribuna reports.. com. Moreover, Arina had the audacity to say that she made the press conference restricted to the media because she " " ) I talked to the press, as I usually do. I know they are still waiting to ask questions that are more about politics than my tennis.. For many months I have been answering these questions in tournaments, expressing my feelings and thoughts very clearly.. These questions don't bother me after my matches. I know that I have to answer questions from the media about things that are not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday at a press conference I did not feel safe.

And I have to feel safe when I give interviews to journalists after matches.. I decided to avoid a similar situation today for my own mental health and well-being, and the organizers supported me in this decision.. It has been a difficult few days, now I am focused on continuing to show a good game," com. Earlier it was reported that Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk was booed by spectators in the stands for refusing to shake hands with Sobolenko after the match of the first round of Roland Garros-2023.