After withdrawing from Wimbledon, Sabalenka took some time for herself.
Aryna Sabalenka says posting vacation pictures after missing Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury definitely didn’t mean that she was living her best life because she still had to do a lot of rehab during the day and being unable to compete at The Championships was also something that hurt her.
After retiring injured her Berlin round-of-16 on June 22nd, Sabalenka wasn’t ready to give up yet on her Wimbledon appearance and went to The All England Club. But then on Day 1 of the tournament on July 1st, the two-time Grand Slam champion announced that she wasn’t ready to play.
Skipping Wimbledon left Sabalenka with some free time in the middle of the season and she used it to relax a little. However, it wasn’t all perfect about the 26-year-old Belarusian spending time on the beach while others were at Wimbledon and also having the Paris Olympics in their minds.
“I wouldn’t say that. It was very tough to get injured and not be able to compete at Wimbledon. I was very prepared to go there but, unfortunately, it is what it is. I was doing a lot of rehabilitation and, although it seems like I was living a holiday life, almost half of the day I was doing treatments and rehabilitation exercises, a lot of things to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. But, yes, I had a couple of days where I really enjoyed myself and tried to separate myself from tennis and accept that I was injured and I couldn’t compete. It was a kind of rehabilitation and, at the same time, I was able to enjoy my life,” Sabalenka said on Tennis Channel after her opening Cincinnati win.
Sabalenka on needing a break
After a strong start to the season and defending Australian Open title, Sabalenka struggled during the Sunshine Double but rediscovered her form during the clay season and had several deep runs – she finished as runner-up to Iga Swiatek in Madrid and Rome before disappointingly losing to Mirra Andreeva in the French Open quarterfinal.
While it was still a great season up until that point, the 26-year-old still went through some painful moments. One of it was certainly getting upset by Andreeva late in the French Open because the Belarusian entered the tournament playing extremely well and aiming for the title.
Reflecting on everything now, Sabalenka believes it was “necessary” for her to spend some time away from tennis and get certain answers.
“I think it was very necessary to take a break, spend some time with myself and realize a lot of things. Things probably happen for a reason and I guess my reason was to disconnect and relax a little bit,” Sabalenka noted.
Sabalenka on how she felt in her Cincinnati opener
Since returning to action at the start of the North American hard-court swing, Sabalenka saw her Washington run end in the semifinal with a loss to Marie Bouzkova and she was also upset by Amanda Anisimova in the Toronto quarterfinal last week. After those two losses, Sabalenka admitted she wasn’t really particularly happy with her level.
This week in Cincinnati, third-seeded Sabalenka had a first-round bye before overcoming world No. 66 Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3 6-4 in her opening match to set up a meeting versus Elina Svitolina.
“I definitely felt a little bit better than in the previous matches I played so far and I am very happy with the level I played in those key moments, in those difficult moments. Overall, I am very happy with this victory,” Sabalenka reflected after beating Cocciaretto.
Against Cocciaretto, Sabalenka had 10 break points but realized just two of them. However, she also saved all three of the Italian’s break point opportunities.
“Not really. I would say I had a lot of opportunities to break and I didn’t take most of them and that was a bit frustrating today but I was just trying to stay focused, concentrate on my serve and make sure I put as much pressure on the return game as I could, I just tried to fight for every point,” Sabalenka explained.
When asked about her goals in Cincinnati, Sabalenka revealed that just seeing certain things in her game leading up to the US Open would make her satisfied.
“I would say that I would be happy if I felt that fighting spirit on the court and if I felt that no matter what happens, I was able to be there, to stay focused, to not get distracted and to fight for every point no matter what. And to have that calmness on the court again,” Sabalenka shared.
