Aryna Sabalenka will begin her preparations for the grass-court season "as soon as she can" and is expected to play at the star-studded Berlin Open.
The Berlin Open is a WTA 500 preparatory tournament for Wimbledon. It will begin on June 17th, with nine of the world's Top 10 players committing to play. But after her shock Roland Garros defeat to teen prodigy Mirra Andreeva, there were doubts that Sabalenka would not feature on grass this month.
This is because the 26-year-old confirmed she had been unwell for the past few days and was not at her best during the match against Andreeva. Sabalenka was given some painkillers and was seen holding her stomach in pain.
Despite taking the first set 7-6 and even leading the final set with a break, she could not cross the finish line. Her 17-year-old opponent showed class and admirable resilience to turn it around and win 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
It doesn't seem like the illness is anything serious, which warrants a longer recovery period. According to a recent tweet on X (formerly Twitter) by tennis reporter Michal Samulski, the Belarusian powerhouse is expected to hit the practice courts very soon.
"Aryna Sabalenka will start training on grass as soon as she can and will play Berlin."
Sabalenka was not able to attend the post-match press conference to share her thoughts about the match and the nature of her illness, but the WTA communications staff have released quotes from the outgoing World No. 2 to Roland Garros media.
The loss to Andreeva snaps her run of reaching at least the semi-final in each of her last six Grand Slams, a streak dating back to the 2022 US Open. It will also cost her a spot in the world's top two, as Coco Gauff will replace her as the new World no. 2 on Monday.
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