Aryna Sabalenka failed to match Iga Swiatek in the 2024 Italian Open final, and she admitted her injury contributed to that.
Sabalenka looked as good as ever in Rome, winning matches fairly comfortably. Some of them looked more competitive than others, but it wasn't that much different from her run at the Madrid Open recently.
The Belarusian dropped news about her injury ahead of the WTA 1000 final, though, admitting that she was dealing with a minor injury. The back was the issue, and at one point, she considered just withdrawing from the tournament.
She chose to play on, but the injury impacted her play in the final. The match was one-sided, and Sabalenka told the media after how the injury impacted her.
"Well, when you have some sort of injury and you're trying to recovery during the tournament, anyways it stays in the back of your mind. You try to kind of, like, protect your body a little bit."
"So probably in some points there was moments where I could push myself a little bit more but I didn't want to get injured before Roland Garros, so... It's kind of like affecting you a little bit just by being there in the back of your mind."
One thing Sabalenka was adamant about, though, was not losing because of it. Throughout this week, she felt fine enough to play, and at times, she played really well. She might have been able to push herself further if she hadn't had any problems, but she was still able to play, and Swiatek was just the better player.
"But I wouldn't say I lost the match today because of my back. Obviously not. But, yeah, I think I did pretty well here in Rome struggling with illness, then injury, lots of stuff happened. Anyway, proud of myself that I've been able to get to the final, no matter what."