Sabalenka Reacts To 'Awkward' Stuttgart Situation After Opponent's Withdrawal
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Aryna Sabalenka will have to deal with a very unusual situation at the 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and she detailed how she plans to approach it.
Tennis is a very unique sport because of many reasons, but one of them is the individual aspect. Unlike in team sports, if a tennis player gets injured mid-tournament, they can't be replaced by someone else. They simply have to withdraw, and the other player receives a walkover.
That's something that happens almost every week, as players often get injured or sick. But some walkovers are more special than others, and a very rare situation happened at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart because of one of the withdrawals.
While the walkovers themselves can't be special in any way, the other factors surrounding the walkover can make it interesting. In this case, it means that a player won't play a match at an event for almost a week.
Sabalenka entered the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix draw in hopes of playing some clay-court tennis to kick-start this part of the season, but she won't get to play a competitive match until Saturday, since there will be no play on Friday because of the local laws.
As the top seed in Stuttgart, the Belarusian player had a first-round bye, which means that she was set to start her tournament in the second round. But after her second-round opponent, Anastasia Potapova, withdrew from the tournament, Sabalenka moved to the quarter-finals without having to even step onto the court.
Very untraditionally, she spoke to the press in Stuttgart while already having her quarter-final spot sealed, but still before even stepping onto the court.
She admitted that he situation is awkward for her and her team, but that she will also try to use it to spend more time on the practice court and in the gym.
"That's a bit awkward, but I was worried if everything is okay with her, so I messaged her and I figured out the situation. I was, like, 'What are you doing to me? My next match is on Saturday (smiling).' Yeah, that's a bit awkward, but we adjusted a little bit of the practice schedule, and I guess that's gym time for me (smiling)."
During the press conference, Sabalenka was also asked about her start of the 2025 season. She has already played in four finals and won two titles.
However, in her mind, Sabalenka missed out on the most important title, which was the Australian Open. She mentioned that during the press conference, saying that the start of her previous two seasons felt better to her as she left Melbourne with a trophy.
"I think winning the Australian Open was a better start for me in the previous years. That's definitely a great start for finals. I mean, I cannot complain. But of course I could do a little bit better in those two finals I lost."
