Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Montreal tournament, opts for extra rest before U.S. Open preparation
'I'm looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I've decided it's in my best interest to skip Montreal,' Sabalenka said Wednesday in a statement provided by the tournament.
Sabalenka is coming off a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, where she lost to Amanda Anisimova.
The National Bank Open begins July 27. Sabalenka could instead return for the Cincinnati Open in early August, with the first round of the U.S. Open set to begin on Aug. 24. Sabalenka won that title for the first time in 2024.
The tournament also announced that 10th-ranked Paula Badosa had withdrawn because of an injury. Caty McNally and Moyuka Uchijima replaced Sabalenka and Badosa in the main draw.
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For a man with attention deficit disorder, as in a fear of not getting enough of it, that's a long, dark winter ahead. That suggestion will have LIV bootlickers pounding keyboards (as best they can when typing with one finger and the drool pooling) to point out that four events remain on DeChambeau's Saudi-funded schedule. But consider the U.S. viewership of LIV's event last week in Spain. On July 11, LIV Golf Andalucía aired on Fox Sports 1 from 10 a.m. until noon and averaged 13,000 viewers, barely the population of dissidents in a single Saudi Arabian prison. Even that was an improvement on the number earlier that morning (8,000) during a three-hour stint on FS2. A highlights show on FS2 from 6 to 7 a.m. had 1,000 viewers. Saturday morning on FS1 had 22,000, the Fox network broadcast in the afternoon had 334,000, and the Sunday finale on FS2 from 5:30 until 11 a.m. averaged 34,000. For DeChambeau, that's less a promotional platform than a witness protection program. 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