Aryna Sabalenka sent well wishes to Ons Jabeur after their match in Cincinnati in which Jabeur received medical attention and was visibly uncomfortable when running ❤️
"Yeah, I mean, It can be distracting": Aryna Sabalenka speaks out on players that take medical timeouts mid-match to distract opponents at Cincinnati Open
WTASunday, 20 August 2023 at 10:30
Aryna Sabalenka has spoken out about players who deliberately take medical timeouts mid-match as a tactic to distract their opponents following Ons Jabeur's genuine injury at the Cincinnati Open.
World No. 2 Sabalenka faced fifth seed Jabeur in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a re-match of their dramatic meeting at Wimbledon last month.
Whilst it was Jabeur who advanced to the finals of the Grand Slam, Sabalenka was able to avenge her loss here, winning the match in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. However, the Belarusian admitted that her Tunisian opponent was unable to play at her best as she was dealing with what seemed to be a foot injury.
Jabeur calls for medical timeout
During the match at the WTA 1000 event, Jabeur called for a medical timeout where she was seen by a physio and had her foot tightly taped. This came after she appeared to be in pain and was struggling to run for the ball. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old was able to finish the match.
Following her win, Sabalenka expressed her sympathy for Jabeur and wished her a speedy recovery.
"Right now I'm a little bit sad for Ons [Jabeur], I really hope she'll recover soon and she'll be ready for the US Open. She's such an unbelievable player. She annoys me a lot… in a good way [laughing]. Really tricky opponent," she said.
Sabalenka says other players use timeouts as tactics
However, while the 25-year-old recognized the genuine nature of Jabeur's injury and timeout, she also spoke about other players who deliberately call for timeouts as a distraction tactic.
"Yeah, I mean, it can be distracting," she said of the medical timeout, "But sometimes players do that for a reason, to get you distracted. But I saw that she struggled a lot. She didn't play that good. She didn't move. I mean, I was just like just finishing the match, yeah."
The Australian Open champion went on to analyze the match further, in which she hit nine aces and converted six of her ten break points.
"Yeah, I think I started serving a little bit better. What was the score? 1-3 something, I started serving better, feeling better. I see that she [Jabeur] was struggling a little bit with her, I don't know whatever happened to her, I don't even know," she said.
Sabalenka went on to face Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to the Czech in three sets, 7-6(4), 3-6, 2-6.
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