The world no 3 Aryna Sabalenka and the world no 10 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia will not compete in the forthcoming Paris Olympics. The reigning Australian Open winner told reporters at the Ladies Open that she decided to care for herself and prepare for the hard-court summer. Sabalenka is the second seed this week in Berlin. She is competing in her first tournament since Roland Garros, where she suffered a stomach ailment after her quarterfinal loss to Mirra Andreeva. Katie Boulter Beats Karolina Pliskova To Clinch Nottingham Open 2024 Title.
"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," Sabalenka said at media day on Monday as quoted by WTA.
"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," Sabalenka said.
"It was the worst experience I had in my life on court. I've played while being ill, I've played with injuries, but when you have a stomach bug and you don't have any energy to play and you're in the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam, that was really terrible experience. But it is how it is. I think my body was just asking for some rest. I managed to find a couple of days to chill and recover after the tough months," Sabalenka said.
Jabeur has also announced that she will skip the Olympics for precautionary measures against injury.
Ons Jabeur Rules Out Paris Olympics 2024
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) June 17, 2024
For the first time since Barcelona in 1992, the Olympic tennis tournament will be held on clay. Players will have to move from grass at Wimbledon to clay at Roland Garros for the Olympics before returning to North American hard courts. Paris Olympic Games 2024: England Tennis Star Andy Murray Set To Make Fifth Olympics Appearance.
The hard-court summer will include back-to-back WTA 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati, followed by the year's final Grand Slam, the US Open, where Sabalenka reached the final last year. Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki, former world number one players, are scheduled to return to Roland Garros for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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