Australian Open 2026: Sabalenka Seeks Peace Amidst Controversy

Aryna Sabalenka has refused to buy into the political debate sparked by Ukrainian player Oleksandra Oliynykova, who told this masthead on Tuesday that all Russian and Belarusian players should be banned while the war in Ukraine continues. Oliynykova declared the presence of top Belarusian and Russian players was “very wrong”, despite the fact they do not compete under their countries’ flags. Sabalenka, the world No.1, was explicitly named by Oliynykova on Tuesday for signing a letter supporting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during protests in 2020, when he won an election described by Western governments as a sham, two years before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sabalenka has previously said that she did not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine or Lukashenko. Loading She was asked about Oliynykova’s comments after her straight-sets win on Wednesday. This masthead is not suggesting the claims by Oliynykova are true, only that they have been made. “I have spoken a lot about that before, obviously, I want peace. If I could change anything I would definitely do that, other than that I have nothing else to say.” Asked if it was appropriate that a rival player individually called her out, Sabalenka politely declined to respond. “Listen, I’m here for tennis. It’s a tennis event, I’ve said enough in the past and I don’t want to talk politics,” she said. Jordan Thompson is getting angry out on ANZ Arena, after another foot fault was called on his first serve while Nuno Borges has a break point opportunity. Thompson whacks the ball into the ground in frustration and is given a code violation warning for ball abuse. On his second serve, Thompson faults and in the changeover he has words with the chair umpire. “You understand my frustration, I’ve played for [undecipherable] years and I haven’t foot faulted once and now today all of a sudden it’s been like five times,” he says. “Unless I’ve changed something? But I can’t even ask to see it.” The chair umpire explains that foot faults are not able to be replayed on the big screen. “I understand that,” says Thompson, “But you can review everything else, and then you’ve got something like this, and you can’t even see what’s happened. I mean, the system fails half the time. We had to stop twice the other day for the system. It’s not much to ask for.” Borges leads 6-7, 6-3, 5-1 with Thompson serving.