Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, which was shocking because she's not a player who quits easily or withdraws from an event until she has to.
The Belarusian is one of the best players in the world, and she loves Wimbledon. It's been a good place for her because she's played some fantastic tennis in London over the years.
Missing that event is never something that she would do willingly, and she didn't do it willingly this year, either. Unfortunately, Sabalenka missed this year's Wimbledon due to an injury that happened very late in the preparation for the event.
The 26-year-old was in Berlin preparing for that event and playing decent tennis. Unfortunately, she experienced some shoulder discomfort and retired in her match at the WTA 500 event in Berlin.
Reports immediately suggested that Sabalenka could miss Wimbledon, but nobody wanted to believe that. She herself traveled to London to see if she could play at the event, but it became evident pretty quickly that she wouldn't be able to play, so she announced the decision to withdraw.
It was a very difficult decision for the Belarusian, who recently admitted that she generally doesn't want to withdraw from tournaments, when asked about it ahead of the her participation at the 2024 Citi Open in Washington.
"Well, yeah, 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. It was very tough. But I decided to take care of my health, to do a proper rehab, get back stronger."
While it might not be the way she generally approaches her career, it was the smart thing to do. Playing on an injury is never a good idea, especially not a shoulder injury, which can become complicated over time.
Sabalenka also spoke about the rehabilitation and how much she did to get herself into playing shape again. Rehabilitation can be tough for players because it involves a lot of work and time spent.
"So the recovery was, yeah, 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. It felt like a lot, like the whole day I've been doing, like, exercises. It feel like it's actually time to switch off, but you're still working out, still doing something. It was very tough."
Luckily for her, everything during the recovery process went well, and Sabalenka is already back on the courts with the racket, hoping to make something of her participation at the Citi Open, which she chose instead of the Olympic Games.
"Then I start practicing, like slowly getting back. So far I'm doing well. 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."
Subscribed successfully
0 Comments