Sabalenka withdraws from US Open tune-up event in Montreal
The 27-year old Belarusian's decision to sit out the July 26-August 7 Canadian Open follows her semi-final appearances at Wimbledon and Berlin and after losing in the French Open final.
"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 in a Tennis Canada press release.
"I'll miss my amazing Canadian fans, but I'm already looking forward to seeing you all next year. Thanks for your understanding and support it means the world to me!"
Tennis Canada also said Spanish world number 10 Paula Badosa, who announced this week that she has a fresh back injury, has also withdrawn from the Canadian Open.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Independent Singapore
5 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
'The match was very solid from my part' — Leylah Fernandez secures fourth WTA Grand Slam title in Washington
Photo: WASHINGTON, D.C.: Canadian athlete Leylah Fernandez elevated her tennis career by winning this year's WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open title in Washington, D.C., making it her fourth career WTA singles trophy. Ranked world No. 36, Fernandez defeated No. 48 Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-2 in the hard-court final. In a span of only 1 hour and 9 minutes, the athlete became the first Canadian woman to achieve the Washington title. With her win, Fernandez said in her post-match press conference: 'The match was very solid from my part… I was very happy the way that I held my nerves. I was definitely very nervous in the beginning, but I got to play my game in the important points and kind of push through those nerves, so I was super happy about that.' Highlights of the match Leylah faced a break point at 1-1 in the first set, but with her capabilities and skills, she managed to hold her serve. The Canadian took control of the rest of the set as Kalinskaya lost her serve due to a double fault. Leylah won the opening game with a winning drop shot after just 30 minutes. Fernandez continued her strong play in the second set and eventually went on to win the match. She had four out of six break points during the match and never lost her own serve. Fernandez's athletic performance Leylah Fernandez reached the US Open final in 2021, but since then, she has not won any major tournament for quite some time. Her last win was in Hong Kong in October 2023, and the last time she reached a final was over a year ago when she eventually lost to Daria Kasatkina on the grass courts at the WTA 500 in Eastbourne. However, Fernandez prepared for her games in Washington and was ready to clinch the title. She played more than nine hours to get to the final, including a 3-hour and 12-minute match, which she won against Elena Rybakina in the semifinals. Fernandez admitted: 'I have gone through so many different challenges this know, I think it just has made me stronger in a way that if I can get through this week, through the cramps, through the long matches, through the heat, the humidity, I can get through anything.' 'So I was just very happy that I got to not only push myself physically through the limits but also mentally. So that kind of will help me hopefully for future tournaments,' she added. On social media, netizens expressed their support for the Canadian tennis star. One netizen stated: 'Well yes! Leylah Annie Fernandez, the new queen of D.C. is Canadian. It sounds very correct. ❤️' Another netizen remarked: 'She really played her heart out. Good for you queen!' One more netizen said: 'What a great week of Tennis. So resilient !! Congrats !! 😎✌️' () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
CNA
15 hours ago
- CNA
Young swimmers making waves at World Aquatics Championships
Young swimmers Yu Zidi, Summer Mcintosh making waves at World Aquatics Championships By CNA/Wallace Woon 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi qualified for the women's 200m individual medley final at the World Aquatics Championships, after finishing seventh fastest with a time of 2:10.22 in the semi-finals. Despite her young age, Yu has clocked some of the fastest times in the world this year. "I'm happy and I will keep trying my best in the future. I hope I can make a breakthrough at this competition and show what I'm truly capable of," she said. Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, 18, came in first at the semi-finals with a timing of 2:07.39. This came after she stormed to gold in the women's 400m freestyle earlier in the day. Both McIntosh and Yu will compete in the finals of the women's 200m individual medley, which takes place on Jul 28. Next Story
CNA
15 hours ago
- CNA
'Lucky' De Minaur saves three match points to lift Washington Open title
Alex De Minaur rallied from a set down and saved three match points to claim the Washington Open title with a 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event on Sunday. The Australian number one, who lost the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev, felt he rode his luck to secure his 10th career title and ensure he will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month's U.S. Open. The two 26-year-olds exchanged breaks early in the opening set before Spain's Davidovich Fokina seized control by breaking again and closed out the set with the help of some crisp forehand winners. De Minaur responded emphatically in the second set, converting two of four break-point opportunities while holding serve throughout, wrapping up the set in just over 30 minutes with an ace to level the contest. The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to seventh seed De Minaur. Davidovich Fokina's frustration mounted as the 12th seed squandered three match points on De Minaur's serve, and the Australian then capitalised on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to edge the contest. "I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I'm so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title," De Minaur said at the trophy presentation. "Alejandro, you're way too good not to have one of these, it's coming for sure," he added, gesturing to the trophy. "You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end, this is only going on for you." Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the U.S. capital last year and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career high world number 19 when the rankings are updated on Monday. "He deserved the win, he was fighting every ... ball, he was always pushing through my limits," Davidovich Fokina said. "We had a job to do before we started the year, to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder."
