French Open 2023: Alongside upsets, geopolitics infiltrate Parisian clay court major

With Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, playing under a blank flag next to his name, crashing out , the French Open had its biggest early casualty. The World No 2 is the first second seed to lose in the first round of Roland Garros since Pete Sampras exited against Mark Philippoussis in 2000. Upsets are part of the Parisian clay court major. And this year has been no different. Maria Sakkari, Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic, Barbora Krejcikova, Victoria Azarenka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Dan Evans and Ben Shelton were all first round casualties. As tennis continues to go past midnight with five-setters aplenty, French Open and its organisers maintain the elegance of the tournament with gelato shops, mobile pop-up shops, beverage salespeople and espresso stands. Fans have turned up in numbers occupying the picnic chairs strewn around the complex. Away from the surprises on the court and loud Parisians watching on, geopolitics has made its presence felt in the first four days of the second Grand Slam of the year.

It began from the draw itself when Belarus’ World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who plays under a neutral flag, was drawn to meet Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, in the first round. As was expected, Kostyuk refused to shake Sabalenka’s hand after the match. The crowd didn’t take kindly to this act and booed Kostyuk off the court . She hit out at the fans in the post-match press conference, “I want to see people react to it in ten years when the war is over. I think they will not feel really nice about what they did.” She also commented, “I just want to say that I’m proud of our air defense system and how they shoot almost 100 percent of things.” Read | Lesia Tsurenko urges Ukrainians to beat Russians ‘on any field’ Here’s a tennis player talking about air defense systems right after losing in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. It would be foolish to say sports and geopolitics are not interconnected. It is a belief many advocate but this is a world where Saudi Arabia, as an example, has used its economic might in hosting events, owning teams across the world and luring athletes with jaw-dropping sums of monies. Saudi Arabia argues it is done to diversify their economy and cater to the youngsters. But many believe it is done to paper over its human rights abuses and authoritarian rules.

“Coming back to the politics in sports,” Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina said, “as I think all Ukrainians mention, it’s connected very much because we are all people. For me, it’s just part of human life — politics, sports, you know, different things. It’s like that.” Svitolina, returning from childbirth and winning a title last week , has spoken calmly and strongly about the emotional challenge of being a competitive athlete while your home is in tatters. Born in Odesa, Ukraine, she “lives different days differently” and feels “a mixture of different feelings, but they are bad feelings. You know, they are anger, they are sadness, just heaviness. It’s like this heaviness that I have on a daily basis and all Ukrainians have. You cannot escape from this, and this is for the past one and a half years we have that in our life.” She provided a glimpse into the lives of Ukrainians with loud alarms, runs to the bomb shelters and sleepless nights. Something they’ve grown accustomed to and made part of their lives. Players from Ukraine have long maintained the sport hasn’t dealt with Russia’s 15-month invasion of their homeland properly. Iga Swiatek, the World No 1 from Poland, has strongly advocated for Ukraine’s cause. In an interview with Le Monde this week, she said , “There are indeed tensions among the players. Sometimes the atmosphere in the locker room is quite heavy. At the beginning of the conflict, there was a lack of leadership on the part of the tennis authorities. We were not brought together to explain how we were supposed to manage this complex situation and how to behave. Those who are in the worst position are the Ukrainian players, and it would be good if we paid more attention to what they feel and what they endure.”

Kostyuk has been surprised by the lack of sympathy shown by her peers. “I don’t understand. I see these players every single week in the locker room, and they don’t have the [courage] to come up and talk to me for 15 months already. I’m not sure if they will or not. I will look. Okay.” Dayana Yastremska, who suffered a first round defeat, was exasperated with Ukraine’s players being questioned instead of how Russian and Belarusian players do. “We don’t feel really good. Like, how can we go on court and play against people who — like Russia, against the terroristic country? How? It’s difficult emotionally. So better ask them how they feel playing against us. Do they feel good or no?” Surely the task of seeing Russian and Belarusian players around adds to the frustration and trauma. Before Thursday’s play began, 13 players from Russia and Belarus remain alive at the French Open across men’s and women’s singles draws (Karen Khachanov, Andrey Rublev, Aslan Karatsev, Mirra Andreeva, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Diana Shnaider, Elina Avaneysan, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Anastasia Potapova, Anna Blinkova, Daria Kasatkina, Kamilla Rakhimova and Aryna Sabalenka). One of the matches will see Svitolina take on Blinkova in the third round. “Just a match for me. I will prepare for this match tactically. I will analyse the match that we just played last week,” said Svitolina of their clash in Strasbourg final which she won 6-2, 6-3.

World No 2 Sabalenka, who can become the top-ranked player after the French Open, was asked a pointed question by a Ukrainian reporter regarding her support of President Alexander Lukashenko in 2020. “… in times when he was torturing and beating protesters in the street,” said the reporter, “How is it possible that the potential world number one supports a dictator and —” Sabalenka replied: “I have no comments to you, so thank you for your question.” On a follow up question asking her to flatly condemn the war, Sabalenka said, “I’ve got no comments for you.” As the reporter urged Sabalenka to use her platform against the war, the moderator stepped in with, “she’s made it clear that she’s not going to answer.”

In contrast, 22-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic commented without being asked and used his platform for controversy. After the violence in northern Kosovo between NATO peacekeeping troops and Serbian protesters, the Serb wrote on the camera lens : “Kosovo is the [heart symbol] of Serbia! Stop violence.” That region of Kosovo matters to Djokovic because his father, Srdjan, grew up in Zvecan - formerly in Serbia, nowadays in Kosovo since their independence in 2008. However, Serbia does not recognise Kosovo as an independent state and continues to claim it as Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metojiha. On Monday, Serbians living in Kosovo boycotted local elections, then protested when the Kosovar winners went to assume office. Violence in the aftermath left dozens of NATO troops and Serbian protesters injured. “That topic is very sensitive,” Djokovic said after his first round win. “As a Serb, everything that’s happening in Kosovo hurts me a lot. This is the least I could have done. I feel the responsibility as a public figure — doesn’t matter in which field — to give support … Especially as a son of a man born in Kosovo, I feel the need to give my support to them and to Serbia. I don’t know what the future brings for Serbian people and for Kosovo, but it’s necessary to show support and demonstrate unity in these kinds of situations.”

He added: “I am not holding back. I would do it again.” And: “My stance is clear: I am against wars, violence and any kind of conflict, as I’ve always stated publicly. I empathize with all people, but the situation with Kosovo is a precedent in international law. Kosovo is our hearthstone, our stronghold, our most important monasteries are there.” Following the comments, Kosovo Tennis Federation called for Djokovic to be fined and France’s sports minister urged him not to relay the same message again during the tournament. Kosovo Olympic Committee head asked International Olympic Committee to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Novak who is chasing a third French Open title. In western Kosovo, a mural of Djokovic was defaced in a Serbian neighbourhood. After Djokovic won his second-round match, over Marton Fucsovics, he said : “Of course I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but that’s what it is. It’s something that I stand for. So that’s all.” Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .