According to wtatennis.com, Aryna Sabalenka of Minsk, Belarus will not play in the China Open in Beijing next week due to a minor injury. I am far from a medical expert (in high school I did not do well in Biology 20 and my high school teacher encouraged me to not take Biology 30), but I can guarantee something. This injury is not serious whatsoever.
We know that the undisclosed ailment happened at some point during the United States Open. The injury has to be minor. Excuse me folks, but not too many players win a major with a serious medical issue. In the final at Flushing Meadows, Sabalenka defeated Amanda Anisimova of the United States 6-3, 7-6. There simply did not seem to be any serious issues with Sabalenka throughout the entire two weeks of the final major of the season. In fact, she only lost one set (6-4 in the first round to Jessica Pegula of the United States in the semifinal).
Despite the ATP rankings which are very tight right now between Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Jannik Sinner of Italy, Sabalenka has a commanding lead at the moment in the WTA rankings. Sabalenka has 11,225 points, and world number two Iga Swiatek of Poland had 7933 points.
Sabalenka has had success in China in the past. She has won the Wuhan Open on three occasions. She beat Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the 2018 Wuhan Open final, 6-3, 6-3, and Alison Riske of the United States in the 2019 Wuhan Open final, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. These were Sabalenka’s first two WTA titles. Sabalenka then beat Qinwen Zheng of China in the 2024 Wuhan Open, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
