Sabalenka addresses returning after injury and opening her summer on hard courts this week in Washington.
Aryna Sabalenka doesn’t necessarily agree that she has an early advantage for the US Open because she is skipping the Paris Olympics as the current world No. 3 highlights she expects the likes of Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff to be fully ready when the time comes for the final Grand Slam of the year.
This week, Sabalenka is slated to return to action after injury and kick off her summer on hard courts at a WTA 500 in Washington. While Sabalenka is already in the United States, Swiatek and Gauff are competing on the clay courts of Roland Garros since they are participating in the ongoing Olympics. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina was also scheduled to play in Paris but she had to withdraw late due to an illness.
When Sabalenka announced her Olympic withdrawal, she said it was “too much of the schedule.” And truth to be told, the Belarusian wasn’t the only player who skipped the Olympics because she didn’t want to go quickly from grass to clay and then from clay to hard.
While Sabalenka thinks she made the right decision, she doesn’t want to think that Swiatek and Gauff are or will be behind her in preparation for the US Open.
“It’s still way to go to the US Open. I feel like they going to be ready, Probably they’ll just take a break. They’re not going to play whatever,” Sabalenka underlined.
“At the end it was very important for me to take a little break. I had really tough struggles starting from March. It was much needed. Mentally, I feel more fresh and more ready to go. I’ll be ready.”
Sabalenka on sustaining a shoulder injury and missing Wimbledon
In late June, Sabalenka started her grass season by winning her opening match in Berlin. But then, the two-time Grand Slam champion suffered a shoulder injury during her quarterfinal match versus Anna Kalinskaya and ended up retiring late in the first set.
While Sabalenka went to Wimbledon and tried to play, in the end she decided that it just wasn’t worth it since it could have potentially jeopardized the rest of her season. Instead, the 26-year-old focused on recovering – and while it wasn’t a fun time – at least she is now fully healthy and ready to play again.
“That was a very tough decision because I never pull out from the tournament because of the injury. Even if I was injured, I was still playing. I was still struggling, but being able to play. It was my first experience like that,” Sabalenka said.
“But I decided to take care of my health, to do a proper rehab, get back stronger. So the recovery was very tough one because for two weeks I was doing rehab, like a lot of exercises, a lot of treatments, a lot of recovery stuff.”
Sabalenka gets honest on why she decided to come to Washington
For Sabalenka, this will be her second Washington appearance and also her first in seven years. Previously, Sabalenka made the Washington round-of-16 in her debut in 2017 before losing to Sabine Lisicki.
When asked about coming to Washington, Sabalenka acknowledged that she hasn’t played any matches on 40 days and noted that she needs to build her game and confidence back.
“I’m here because I got injured and I haven’t played for a while. I felt like I need to build my confidence back and build my level back before going to the US Open. So I need to play some matches and that’s why I’m here,” Sabalenka said.
Not only that Sabalenka was out of action for an extended time, she also didn’t touch a racket for 15 days at one point because she was solely focused on her fitness.
“It felt like the whole day I’ve been doing exercises. It feels like it’s actually time to switch off, but you’re still working out, still doing something. It was very tough,” Sabalenka said.
But after doing some major work in Florida, the world No. 3 feels ready for what’s to come during this year’s North American hard-court swing.
“I feel like physically I’m well-prepared after Florida. Hopefully this injury will never bother me again and I’ll be able to play the next Grand Slam, which is my favorite one. I really want to do well there,” Sabalenka said.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka is the top-seeded player in Washington this week and has a first-round bye. After not having to play the first round, Sabalenka will start her campaign by taking on the winner of the match between Katie Volynets and Kamilla Rakhimova.
