PARIS : Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka skipped her post-match press conference at the French Open on Sunday for the second consecutive time due to being asked to comment on the war in Ukraine earlier in the tournament, organisers confirmed.
The world number two did not attend her press conference on Friday, citing mental health reasons and saying she did not feel safe after being grilled about Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus being a key staging ground for Russian troops.
Sabalenka, who has been repeatedly urged by Ukrainian players to take a stand against the war, reached the quarter-finals by beating American Sloane Stephens in straight sets on Sunday.
"Aryna Sabalenka will not be doing a general press conference tonight. An interview with a WTA editorial reporter will be conducted shortly and transcribed and distributed," the French tennis federation (FFT) who organise the Grand Slam tournament, said in a statement.
The Australian Open champion had refused to do her press conference on Friday after her third round win over Kamilla Rakhimova telling the WTA, the governing body of women's tennis, in a released interview she had felt unsafe following her press conference after her second round win on Wednesday.
"After my match (on Wednesday) I spoke with the media like I normally do. I know they still expect some questions that are more about the politics and not so much about my tennis," she said on Friday.
"I know that I have to provide answers to the media on things not related to my tennis or my matches, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe in the press conference," she said.
The WTA said on Friday it would support the 25-year-old player in her decision.
In 2021, former world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan was fined $15,000 for skipping a post-match press conference at the French Open and threatened with tough sanctions by the board of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
She subsequently withdrew from the tournament citing mental health concerns and later said she had been battling depression and anxiety for years.