"So if she hate me, okay, I can't do anything about that": Sabalenka doesn't care about issues with Kostyuk ahead of French Open clash

Aryna Sabalenka will face Marta Kostyuk in the first round Roland Garros and she's not worried about anything regarding the match even though she will face a player who doesn't like her.

Kostyuk has been one of the most outspoken players about the war in Ukraine and she's criticised pretty much every player that is kind of tied to it. Being Belarussian means that for Kostyuk, Sabalenka is somewhat of an enemy and there will certainly be some fire there and likely no handshake.

She's not particularly bothered by it and chooses to focus on tennis instead of stuff like that:

"I don't want to waste my energy on this kind of stuff, you know. This is like, it's not about -- it's none of my business, you know. So if she hate me, okay. I can't do anything about that. There is going to be people who loves me; there is going to be people who hates me. If she hates me, I don't feel anything like that to her."

The Belarussian further expressed understanding for the 'no handshake' policy which all Ukrainian players have with players from Russia and Belarus:

"About the no shaking, I kind of can understand them. Like I imagine they're going to shake hands with Russians and Belarusians, and then they're gonna get so many messages from their home countries. So I kind of understand why they are not doing it. At the same time, I feel like sports shouldn't be in politics. Like we're just athletes. If they feel good with no shaking hands, I'm happy with that."