The women’s final between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek finally came to an end with the latter winning the Italian Open title in straight sets. In a match completely dominated by the current world number 1, Sabalenka did not have answers to her on-court prowess. However, deep behind her loss is the back injury that she has been dealing with. After her match against Elina Svitolina, Sabalenka found herself in trouble as back concerns started to come into the picture.

In the post-match conference, Aryna Sabalenka further talked about how the concerns troubled her during the final and she wasn’t able to reach her 100%. She suggested that there were instances when she could have tried to push herself to reach the ball. However, the fear of injury getting serious stopped her. It could also have posed serious concerns over her participation in the French Open.

“Well, when you have some sort of injury and you’re trying to recover during the tournament, anyways it stays in the back of your mind. You try to kind of, like, protect your body a little bit. So probably in some points there was moments where I could push myself a little bit more but I didn’t want to get injured before Roland Garros, so…
It’s kind of like affecting you a little bit just by being there in the back of your mind,” said Sabalenka in the post-match interview.

“But I wouldn’t say I lost the match today because of my back. Obviously not. But, yeah, I think I did pretty well here in Rome struggling with illness, then injury, lots of stuff happened. Anyway, proud of myself that I’ve been able to get to the final, no matter what,” Aryna Sabalenka further continued.

Thus, with just a few days remaining for the French Open, the main question that now lies is if Aryna Sabalenka will able to overcome her injury completely and be at her 100% before the grand slam starts. While she suffered some minor injuries during the tournament, she suggested that the 2 weeks format was a better one as it provided her time to get back to her best and take some proper rest.

Aryna Sabalenka says the 2-week Masters’ format is a better one as she gets adequate time to relax

Talking about the format, she suggested that she was happy with the way things were going as she got more time to relax and rest. While she had back issues, the new format helped her release her stress which eventually helped her tackle those situations.

“In a situation like that where you also say about Roland Garros, of course you are thinking about it, you have to play two weeks in Madrid and two weeks in Rome, in your opinion is it better to have two weeks with rest during the tournament, mind always focused on the tournament, or one week, more matches close, but then you have more weeks free? Next year with Canada and Cincinnati, it will change even more,” said Aryna Sabalenka about the recent changes in the two-week format of the Masters’ series.

Thus, while Sabalenka suffered from her injury, she did not completely blame it for the loss and accepted it the way it was. While she got enough time to take a rest between her matches, she suggested that it was a good format. Now, with just days before the clay court quest starts in Paris, will she be able to make it in time? What are your thoughts on this? Do let us know in the comments below!