Aryna Sabalenka conceded that facing an injured opponent can be self-destructing, and blamed players who do it on purpose to disrupt rhythm.
Sabalenka was playing a visibly injury-stricken Ons Jabeur in the last eight of the Cincinnati Masters when the Tunisian trailblazer appeared to run over her foot at one point in the second set and called for a medical timeout. Jabeur's foot was tightly taped by the WTA physio, but she was clearly in pain.
Eventually, the fifth seed was able to complete the match, albeit in a straight-sets defeat. Sabalenka avenged her previous loss to Jabeur, which came at this year's Wimbledon. After the match, Sabalenka was aware Jabeur was hardly operating at her best level in the second set as her movement was largely affected.
The Belarusian acknowledged the severity of Jabeur's injury but also opened up on how mid-match injuries sometimes are strategically and intentionally taken to throw another player off her game. Playing an injured opponent can be destructing, says Sabalenka.
"Yeah, I mean, it can be distracting. But sometimes players do that for a reason, to get you distracted. But I saw that she struggled a lot. She didn't play that good. She didn't move. I mean, I was just like just finishing the match, yeah."
Sabalenka highlighted her improving serve in the match as the difference maker. She hit nine aces and won 65% first-serve points. She also converted six of her ten break points to progress to her first hard-court semifinal since Indian Wells.
"Yeah, I think I started serving a little bit better. What was the score? 1-3 something, I started serving better, feeling better. I see that she was struggling a little bit with her, I don't know whatever happened to her, I don't even know."
In the semifinals Western & Southern Open on Saturday afternoon, the Belarusian lost to Karolina Muchova, with the Czech player facing American Coco Gauff, who upset Iga Swiatek in a thrilling three-set match.
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