“She’s doing really good so, watch out for her,”- said Bouchard about Aryna Sabalenka at the beginning of the Grass season. However, it was then. Now, it’s just a cloud of worries and hope for the best after her withdrawal from the Berlin Open, due to issues with her shoulder. And Sabalenka, now worries about making it through the first round of the Grass Slam, leaving the hopes of lifting the trophy. 

Sadly, Sabalenka is not the only player who is nursing herself out of injury. Grass courts have been dangerous for many players, including Frances Tiafoe, and the defending champion, Marketa Vondrousova among the long list which includes the Belarusian star. In a recent interview at Wimbledon, World no.3 was questioned about her fitness and her journey through the tough time. The interviewer questioned, “How do you find how hard is it to deal with it? Are you frustrated or how do you cope when you are injured?”

For the first time in her career, Sabalenka withdrew from a match midway. This act itself speaks volumes about her injury and depleting fitness. And in response to the question, she poured her emotion out with just 3 words, “That’s really frustrating!” Sabalenka has been on the court for years, winning 2 Grand Slams, and other news. However, she suffering from a serious injury is heard for the first time in the circuit. Further explaining her form, she said, “I never dealt with the kind of like serious injuries in my career. And the struggles I’m going through right now is, that’s a lot.”

Moreover, it’s not just from the Berlin Open, the seeds of this injury might have been sown way before, while Berlin was the last nail in the coffin. She said, “I mean, I would say that the past month has been really challenging for me and I’ve been fighting through a lot of different pains. If you ask me whatever pains, I’m gonna tell you I had it and I was fighting through it.” It’s not just the physical pain that can be contained with painkillers. What comes after pain is the mental struggle to balance worries while trying to stay positive.

Sabalenka further detailed the mental struggle. She said, “It’s really frustrating, it’s always in my head. I’m always hoping for the best. I’m always thinking about what should I do to get back on track. And that’s a lot of mental work, that’s really tough.” Amidst all the chaos that the injury has caused, Sabalenka looks out for a few moments of peace and fun to help her get through.

Aryna Sabalenka enjoys gym outing with her boyfriend amidst injury scare and Wimbledon

She tries to find a balance between her ongoing struggle to be injury-free and a positive mindset to evade the pressure. Sabalenka takes a pill of fun with her boyfriend to stand tall during the tough times. Recently, she shared a video of two working at the gym while teasing her millionaire boyfriend about going to the gym. She said, “After that, he went to the gym,” as Georgios Frangulis lifted a small pink dumbbell.

Such a small moment helps her in dealing with the pains, as she detailed “I don’t know, you just have to find something to help you to change the picture and forget about whatever you are going through to have a just little fun. So there are still some positive things in your life.” Indeed, a tough balance to achieve when things suddenly take an unfortunate turn.

However, with her boyfriend and friends by her side to help her with the fun, Sabalenka’s positive attitude would certainly pull her from the traps of the injury.