Aryna Sabalenka breaks silence on injury as French Open chances thrown into doubt | Tennis | Sport

Sabalenka went on to lose 2-6 6-4 7-5 in the third round, suffering her earliest exit at any tournament in 15 months. After starting the year as one of the most in-form players – winning titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells and Miami, and finishing runner-up at the Australian Open – the four-time Major champion has now lost two of her last three matches going into Roland Garros.

The Belarusian looked to be cruising to a routine victory when she led 26th seed Cirstea by a set and 2-0. But she was broken six times after that, and has now revealed that her body felt “limited” by the injury as the match went on.

“I feel like I didn’t play well from the beginning until the end. I started really well, but then I kind of dropped the level,” the top seed explained.

“Felt like my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level. She stepped in and played incredible tennis. Didn’t really give me much opportunities. Yeah, that was a tough one. But I guess we never lose, we only learn, so it’s okay.”

Sabalenka is now planning to take some time off to recover, with the French Open just 15 days away. Addressing her injury troubles, she said: “I’d say that probably it’s like my lower back, connected to the hip, which is kind of like limiting me from the full rotation.

“I guess we just going to have some days off. We’re going to spend it on recovery. That’s the plan, I believe, for now.”

It’s a concerning development for Sabalenka, who has not won a Grand Slam title outside of a hard court, and finished runner-up to Coco Gauff at Roland Garros last year. The 28-year-old went on an incredible 15-match winning streak before losing to Hailey Baptiste in the Madrid quarter-finals last week, but there are now plenty of questions around her form and fitness going into the second Major tournament of the season.

Last year’s runner-up, Gauff, also survived a scare, coming back from a double-break down in the final set to beat Solana Sierra 5-7 6-0 6-4. Three-time former champion Iga Swiatek also needed three sets to get the job done in her opening match against Caty McNally on Friday.