By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday August 8, 2024

 

Aryna Sabalenka took another positive step in her comeback from a shoulder injury in Toronto on Thursday.

Photo Source: TTV

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday August 8, 2024

Playing in her second event since being forced to withdraw from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, Aryna Sabalenka is starting to feel like her old self.

The World No.2 powered past China’s Yuan Yue 6-2 6-2 on Thursday night in Toronto and says she is able to play freely without worrying about her shoulder.



Sabalenka, who lost in the semifinals last week at Washington, DC, explained that she is no longer protecting her shoulder anymore.

“I was super sore in Washington, and coming here, we did a lot of recovery, a lot of mobility stretches,” she told reporters. “A lot of time I'm spending on extra mobility, on extra stretches, some treatment. Now I feel much better with my shoulder, I realize that I don't have to protect it, that it's done, it's clean, I can go for it without fear that I can get injured again. Right now I feel more free on court and nothing bothers me there and it's out of my mind, so it means that I can stay focused on the game and just compete and do my best.”

It’s great news for the two-time major champion, who developed a rotator cuff injury this summer.

On Thursday she hit four aces and won 19 of 25 first-serve points to improve to 33-10 on the season and 17-5 on hard courts.



Osaka Toppled by Mertens

It was a good start to the week for four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who defeated Ons Jabeur in the first round, but she was bounced by Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday.

Mertens won 25 of 31 first-serve points and broke Osaka’s serve four times across the 92-minute contest to improve to 3-4 against her.

Despite the loss, Osaka remains positive about her form and her progress.

“I feel like for me, the process of the match, like towards the end of the second set, I finally figured it out, and then I just felt like I ran out of time,” she said. “I think I'm figuring things out constantly. I had a really long talk with my team just now and everyone's pretty positive. I'm pretty happy with how much I fought today, even though I didn't win, but I feel like I definitely learned a lot.”