Aryna Sabalenka injured her shoulder at the 2024 Berlin Open, and she admitted that she was still feeling sore in Washington.
Sabalenka's troublesome summer began at the Berlin Open, where she picked up a shoulder injury at the WTA 500 event where a couple of players got injured. Marketa Vondrousova also injured herself in Berlin.
Sabalenka's injury was bad enough to force her to withdraw from Wimbledon. She wasn't keen on doing that, but she had to.
Skipping the Olympics was a decision made earlier than the injury occurred, and it gave her an extra week to heal the shoulder. Her return happened last week at the 2024 Citi Open in Washington, and it was a fair outing from Sabalenka, who was ultimately beaten in the semi-final by Marie Bouzkova.
She did manage to win two matches before, so it was certainly a good tournament to get back into play. She spoke about soreness in the shoulder during her stay in Washington, and that was not ideal.
However, it doesn't seem like a major issue, as she traveled to Toronto and played well at the 2024 Canadian Open. After the match, she provided an update on the state of her shoulder.
"Yeah, that's actually, yeah, that's a different experience, and I really hope that I'm not going to experience that more in my career."
"That's been really tricky to play the first tournament, because you are overprotective, you're trying to kind of like not to overdo stuff, you are protecting your shoulder, and I think that's create more tension. I was super sore in Washington, and coming here, yeah, we did a lot of recovery, a lot of mobility stretches."
The Belarusian confirmed that her shoulder is feeling much better than before, which is great news. The US Open is not that far away, and shoulder issues can linger, especially if they are not healed properly.
It's also a pretty important part of the body for tennis players, because they are using it for everything, whether it's the serve, forehand, or backhand.
Sabalenka was pacing herself in Washington, and it impacted her play. That type of level won't get her far at the US Open, so getting healthy is her goal, and that's why she spends more time on stretching.
"A lot of time I'm spending on extra mobility, on extra stretches, some treatment. Now I feel much better with my shoulder, I realize that I don't have to protect it, that it's done, it's clean, I can go for it without fear that I can get injured again."
"Right now I feel more free on court and nothing bothering me there and it's out of my mind, so it means that I can stay focused on the game and just compete and do my best."
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