WASHINGTON: Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka returns to action at the WTA Washington Open this week after a month-long layoff due to a shoulder injury.
And the world number three expects to be as ready as her rivals at the Paris Olympics when the US Open gets underway on August 26.
“It's still a long way to the US Open. I feel that they will be ready,” Sabalenka said. “Probably just to rest. They are not going to play anything.
“At the end it was very important for me to take a little break. I had a very hard struggle starting in March. It was very necessary. Mentally I feel fresher and ready to work. I'll be ready.”
Sabalenka reached the semi-finals of the US Open in 2021 and 2022, and last year she reached the final in New York, where she lost to American Coco Gauff.
First seeded in Washington, Sabalenka was unable to compete at the Olympics because her home country of Belarus was banned from sending athletes to Paris for supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Sabalenko wants to return to the court for competitions after a long rehabilitation work on her right shoulder.
“I'm here because I got an injury and haven't played for a while,” Sabalenka said. “I felt I needed to get my confidence back and improve my level before going to the US Open. So I need to play some matches and that's why I'm here.”
Sabolenko, who last played in Washington in 2017, suffered a shoulder injury last month in Berlin that forced her to withdraw from her quarterfinal match.
She later withdrew from Wimbledon, where she had reached the semi-finals in her two previous appearances.
“It was a very difficult decision because I have never withdrawn from a tournament due to injury,” she said. “Even when I was injured, I still played. I was still struggling, but I could play. It was my first such experience.
“But I decided to take care of my health, undergo rehabilitation, recover stronger. So the recovery was very difficult because for two weeks I was doing rehab, like a lot of exercise, a lot of treatment, a lot of recovery stuff.”
The 26-year-old Sabalenko was off the court for a week and a half to focus on her fitness.
“It felt like I was exercising all day,” she said. “It feels like it's really time to switch off, but you're still training, you're still doing something. It was very difficult.
Sabalenka practiced in hot and humid Florida, which made similar conditions in the American capital somewhat easier.
“I feel like I'm physically well prepared after Florida,” she said.
“Hopefully this injury will never bother me again and I can play in the next Grand Slam, which is my favourite. I really want it to be good there.”
