Citing scheduling concerns, Aryna Sabalenka says she'll skip the Paris Olympics
'I made the decision to take care of my health,' the Australian Open champion told reporters in Berlin.
World No. 3 and two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will not play in the Paris Olympics, she confirmed to reporters on Monday in Berlin.
Sabalenka, who would've qualified to compete at her second Olympics, said in a pre-event press conference at the ecotrans Ladies Open that her decision was born out of scheduling concerns and quick surface changes. The tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics will take place on clay courts at Roland Garros from July 27 to Aug. 4, just two weeks after the conclusion of the grass-court season at Wimbledon.
The biggest events of the hard-court summer begin in earnest on Aug. 6, with the first of back-to-back WTA 1000 events in Toronto. Cincinnati and the US Open, the year's final major where Sabalenka was runner-up last year, will follow all in the span of a month.
"It's too much for the scheduling and I made the decision to take care of my health," Sabalenka told reporters on Monday, per WTA Insider's Courtney Nguyen.
"I prefer to have a little rest to make sure physically and health-wise I'm ready for the hard courts," she added. "I'll have a good preparation before going to the hard court season. I feel that this is safer and better for my body."
Jonathan Crane of Germany's DW News later reported in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Sabalenka's decision was not influenced by the fact she would need to compete as a neutral athlete, and not for her native Belarus, as a consequence of the country's support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sabalenka is seeded No. 2 behind Coco Gauff at her first event since losing to 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, where she was afflicted by illness.