'Hate': Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka reveals locker room turned on her
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has revealed she has been subjected to "hate" from her fellow players over the invasion of Ukraine.
The Belarussian has been playing as a neutral athlete since Russia and Belarus declared war on Ukraine in 2022.
"It was really tough to understand that there's so many people who hate me for no reason," said Sabalenka.
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"I did nothing."
"It was really tough for me because I've never faced that much hate in the locker room," she added.
"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."
Sabalenka conceded that there is still a divide in the locker room between players with loyalties on both sides of the conflict.
Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka has revealed the "hate" in the locker room over the invasion of Ukraine. Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
"I was really struggling with that because I really felt bad, like I did something and it's still not so good in the locker room with some of the Ukrainian girls," she said.
"But then I realised that it's not my fault and I did nothing bad to them. And I'm pretty sure that the rest of the Russian and Belarusian athletes did nothing to Ukrainians.
"I just realised that this is all emotions and I just need to like ignore it and focus on myself with understanding that I did nothing bad. And I cannot control emotions of others.
"It seems like, everyone's just ignoring each other. Not everyone actually, I'm still talking to some of the Ukrainians, but there are some of the girls who are like really aggressive against us. So I'm just staying away from that."
Sabalenka's comments come just weeks after Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko pulled out of the pair's scheduled third round match at Indian Wells, citing a panic attack after discussing the sport's response to the war with WTA boss Steve Simon.
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