Russia-Ukraine War Takes Center Stage at French Open

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka’s shocking loss in the Roland-Garros quarterfinals opens the draw to a first-time Grand Slam champion—but it also sets up a tense pair of semifinals, with players from Russia and Ukraine matched up directly against each other in one.

Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, fell to Russia’s Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals Wednesday, leaving two Russian players in the semis draw, one on each side of the bracket. Shnaider will face Poland’s Maja Chwalińska, while Russia’s world No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, the only top-10 player remaining, will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. 

The high-profile matches come as Ukrainian players continue to be outspoken about their issues with Russian and Belarusian players amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, which has been aided by Belarus. Poland borders both Belarus and Ukraine and has historically been one of the latter’s strongest allies.

Last week, after Kostyuk’s first-round win in Paris, Kostyuk said a missile destroyed a building “100 meters away” from her parents’ home in Ukraine.

“I think it’s important to keep going. My biggest example is Ukrainian people,” an emotional Kostyuk said after her match.

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the country’s top-ranked player, has refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players since the start of the war, including as recently as January when she and Sabalenka did not meet at the net at the Australian Open semifinals.

Oleksandra Oliynykova, another Ukrainian player, has publicly called out Russian players during her press conferences at Roland-Garros. During a press conference after her first-round win over Russian player Elena Pridankina, Oliynykova displayed photos of tennis courts that have been destroyed in Ukraine due to the war.

A few days later, Oliynykova read a lengthy statement stating that players should stand up against the war and have “a responsibility that goes beyond tennis.” She said Ukrainian players are in “solidarity,” but Russian players have not offered them support.

“The Russian players, let’s be real, they don’t want to communicate,” Oliynykova said. “They have these horrible beliefs.”

The ITF has banned Russian and Belarusian players, including Sabalenka, from representing their countries since March 2022 due to the war. Russian and Belarusian players have been allowed to compete as neutral athletes and have not had any flags shown beside their names.

Several Russian players have changed citizenship in recent years, allowing themselves to receive financial backing from other countries. The most prominent example is former world No. 8 Daria Kasatkina, who began representing Australia in March 2025.