Aryna Sabalenka breaks silence on French Open press conference cancellation | Tennis | Sport

Aryna Sabalenka has explained that a stomach bug caused a “difficult time” for the Australian Open champion in her French Open quarter-final defeat to Mirra Andreeva. The world No. 2 cancelled her post-match press conference in Paris but later gave a few quick words to the Roland Garros media.

The Belarussian star was visibly in distress as she was defeated 7-6, 4-6, 4-6 by her 17-year-old opponent, who became the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since a 16-year-old Martina Hingis in 1997.

But Sabalenka had to stop and receive medical attention after winning a first-set tiebreak and was constantly clutching her stomach, before receiving painkillers during the match.

Sabalenka was due to conduct a post-match press conference and give her thoughts on the match, but a statement from the French Open was released confirming that she would not be speaking with the on-site press, explaining the decision was due to “medical reasons”.

The statement in full read: “Aryna Sabalenka will be unable to attend her post-match press conference due to medical reasons and is currently with the tournament medical team.”

But several hours later, Sabalenka caught up and provided an explanation for her delay and troubles on court. “I had a difficult time out there physically today,” she said. “I have been very sick the last few days with some kind of stomach bug, so it’s been a challenge. It has been a few days, yes. I did my best to try and manage it.”

She rejected the idea that there was any consideration to retiring early from the match, insisting: “No, I always do my best to fight to the end. I had to keep trying and just hope I could find a way and feel a bit better.”

Sabalanka described Andreeva as a “great player” and admitted to “fighting and doing everything I could” to reach the semi-finals, but will instead turn her focus to Wimbledon and the grass-court season next.

“I will start training on grass as soon as I can,” she added, outlining her upcoming schedule. “And then play in Berlin.”