Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 19, 2024 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka celebrates winning her third round match against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka blocked out the political overtones of her third-round match against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko at the Australian Open on Friday to ease into the second week of the Grand Slam with an easy 6-0 6-0 victory.
Sabalenka was last scheduled to face the Ukrainian at Indian Wells last year but Tsurenko withdrew after suffering a panic attack when talking with officials about the response of tennis to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, for which Belarus was used as a staging ground.
