WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka latest addition in the list of tennis players skipping Paris Olympics; Here’s Why

Aryna Sabalenka to open her Berlin Open campaign against Daria Kasatkina.

WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka latest addition in the list of tennis players skipping Paris Olympics; Here’s Why

Aryna Sabalenka (Image via IMAGO)

As the Paris Olympics draws closer, while some players are happy to play at the Games, several players have announced they will skip the tournament. World No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka is the latest to join the likes of Emma Raducanu and Andrey Rublev, who have the made the decision to take care of their health and focus on the hard-court season rather than the Olympics.

However, the very crux of the issue for many players is how difficult it will be to adapt in such a short period to the clay surface just after playing the grass season. This year will make the first time since Barcelona 1992 for the Olympics to be played on clay. The Olympics, which starts on July 27, is just a few days away from Wimbledon which kicks off on July 1.

Besides that, the clay season was a difficult one for Sabalenka. The Belarusian has lost back-to-back finals, in Madrid and Rome, before reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open. At the French Open, she suffered from a stomach bug that saw her in pain during her match against Mirra Andreeva making her lose in three sets.

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She also lost her No. 2 position to Coco Gauff after failing to reach at least the semifinals of the French Open. She now has her focus on the grass season after arriving at Berlin for the WTA 500 event. Sabalenka recently told the media that she is focusing on her health rather than the Olympics Games.

Especially with all the struggles I've been struggling with the last months, I feel I have to take care of my health. It's too much for the scheduling and I made the decision to take care of my health. I prefer to have a little rest to make sure physically and health-wise I'm ready for the hard courts. And I'll have a good preparation before going to the hard-court season. I feel that this is safer and better for my body.
Aryna Sabalenka said via WTA

The hard-court summer will feature consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments, Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, which will be a short time for players returning from the Paris Olympics to prepare ahead of the competitions.

Aryna Sabalenka opens up on coming grass court season

Aryna Sabalenka is hoping for a great grass season after arriving in Berlin for the WTA 500 tournament. The Australian Open champion has been training on the grass courts at Aorangi Park at Wimbledon.

She will be hoping to get past her third-round exit in Berlin and semifinals exit in Wimbledon last year.

Iga Swiatek
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via Imago)
It's not like I feel bad, I've made some good results on the grass, and I feel really good. I think grass actually suits my game really well.
Aryna Sabalenka said

She will open her Berlin campaign against Russian Daria Kasatkina in the second round. Kasatkina advanced with a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Marta Kostyuk today.

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