Winner of the last Australian Open and world number 3, Aryna Sabalenka is expected at the turn Wimbledonwhere she will start against a player from the qualifiers, the American Emina Bektas106th in the WTA. But the 26-year-old player does not arrive in the best conditions at LondonA week ago, the Belarusian retired in the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 Berlin in front of Anna Kalinskaya, due to shoulder pain. This Saturday, she admitted to the WTA that she would not be 100% for the London Grand Slam anyway and that a withdrawal was possible.
Aryna Sabalenka at a press conference before Wimbledon
“I have a very rare injury”
“I call it a simple shoulder injury. This is a very specific and very rare injury. I’m probably the second or third tennis player who has injured this muscle. It is very frustrating. The most annoying thing is that I can do everything. I can practice, I can hit my groundstrokes. But I have difficulty serving. If you give me weights, I’m going to go lift weights. But if you tell me to serve, I will suffer. We did an MRI, we did everything. We did a lot of rehabilitation, a lot of treatments. A package ? There is always a chance, yes. I have never faced serious injuries in my career. The last month has been very difficult. I struggled with a lot of different pains. It’s really difficult to deal with, trying to stay positive while facing reality. I still have hope. As someone who has battled a lot of pain over the past few months, I remain hopeful.“To be continued…
