Aryna Sabalenka admits to big injury regret ahead of US Open

A dejected Aryna Sabalenka
A dejected Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka has expressed remorse for not taking a mid-season sabbatical to heal from a chronic shoulder issue despite her recent triumph at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open.

The injury has not prevented Sabalenka from being installed as the hot favourite for the US Open crown after she stormed to her seventh ‘big’ title.

Sabalenka has now won five WTA 1000 titles to go with her two Australian Open titles while her best effort in New York came last term when she reached the final only to lose to Coco Gauff.

She says that she has a lingering shoulder niggle and believes it may have been an error not to take a break earlier this season.

“Yeah, looking back, I definitely think that I should have just stopped and just kind of like, yeah, like, separate myself from tennis, just, like, have this little break and recharge and kind of like start things over again. I think I kind of, like, overplayed, and I carried a lot,” Sabalenka explained.

“At the end, it just hit me with the injury, and also, I was sick, I was injured, I had stomach issue at the French Open. You know, like, health-wise I was struggling a lot, and yeah, and that’s why I think that this break was much needed.

“Not like I’m happy to get injured, but I’m happy that I had this time off and this kind of like time to reset my mind, and yeah, to get ready for the hard court.

“I think definitely after this year mentally I will become even stronger, which I felt like there is no gap to get stronger mentally than I am at the moment. But yeah, things showed me that actually there is way to improve.”

Sabalenka enjoys playing in New York and takes a huge amount on confidence into the year’s final Grand Slam thanks to her Cincy win.

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“Yeah, I’m super happy with the title. Very important one. Just super excited to be back at the US Open, one of my favourite slams,” Sabalenka said after her win in Ohio.

“I mean, I definitely felt really, like, really good after Cincinnati title. It was very important for me to get that title and to get those wins. I think, yeah, I was really happy with the level I played. It’s not like it’s weight out of my shoulder.

“It just little, like, happy moment before going to the US Open, which is also very important to have this good feelings before the big tournaments.

“It’s not like it’s in my mind a lot that I kind of, like, have unfinished something here, but those tough losses definitely motivated me a lot to hard work and to improve things which didn’t work in the previous years.

“Every time I’m coming here, I’m really hoping for the best result. I really hope one day I’ll be happy to lift this beautiful trophy.”

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