Aryna Sabalenka Speaks Out as Marketa Vondrousova’s Injury Forces US Open Withdrawal

Just hours before stepping onto the court against Aryna Sabalenka, the Czech star, Marketa Vondrousova, tweaked an old knee injury during a practice court session. After consulting with the medical team, she made the difficult call not to “risk aggravating the injury,” handing Sabalenka a walkover into the semifinals. But while the result went down as a win, the world No. 1’s first instinct wasn’t celebration—it was a message for her opponent.

Sabalenka took to Instagram and shared the message through a story. She wrote, “So sorry for Marketa after all she’s been through. She has been playing amazing tennis and I know how badly this must hurt for her.” Aryna Sabalenka has previously withdrawn from events like the Berlin Open 2024 and Wimbledon 2024 because of injury. So, Sabalenka definitely knows how it feels to pull out of an event after giving it one’s all in practice. With goodwill for her opponent, the Belarusian continued, “Take care of yourself and I hope you can recover quickly. Love Aryna.” 

Vondrousova, for her part, had a message for the public, following her withdrawal. She shared a picture of herself from the US Open court and wrote, “it breaks my heart that i can’t step on court today at the US Open because of the injury i picked up in my last match .” She then recounted the difficult time she went through last year, when returning to the court seemed nearly impossible. 

During an interview at the Roland Garros this year, the 2023 Wimbledon champion confessed that she couldn’t even swing her racket following the shoulder surgery she underwent last year. Any attempt at trying to play would mean the return of excruciating pain. And things looked bleak until she and her physio came up with a plan to do physical therapy without her having to hit a single ball.

The Czech star continued, “this place is so special to me exactly one year ago I was in surgery, not even sure if I would ever return. being back here, competing again and enjoying such beautiful matches has meant more than words can say . thankful for all the love and support .” 

Now, with a semifinal clash against a familiar foe, Jessica Pegula, on the horizon, the world No. 1 can’t afford to relax. Pegula has made it clear that this time that she’s out for payback. And the 2025 US Open might just be the stage where she tries to settle the score.

Jessica Pegula is ready for “revenge” against Aryna Sabalenka

Following her quarterfinal win against Barbora Krejcikova, Pegula addressed the threat that she can pose to Aryna Sabalenka. Of course, she seemed happy to get to the semifinals. But during the post-match presser, she took aim at the Belarusian and said, “I think it would be cool to be able to get revenge, obviously. I didn’t even remember the score — I think I saw… was it like five and five last year? I didn’t even remember it being that close, which was kind of funny.”

Back at the 2024 US Open, Sabalenka secured a win over Pegula in the final match with a scoreline of 7-5, 7-5. And now, Pegula’s consistency has brought up one more chance for her to beat Sabalenka. If she wins, she’d then have a 50% chance to win this year’s US Open. But reflecting on last year’s game, the 31-year-old revealed, “I think after the final, I was so like, ‘Wow, we should be in a third set right now.’ I was very much like, there are so many things… I didn’t serve well, I could have gotten better.”  

She continued, “But I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, what a great match, I’m happy to be in the finals.’ I literally walked off the court and told my coach, ‘Well, I didn’t serve that well,’ or, ‘I didn’t do this well,’ or, ‘I didn’t do that well.’” And that’s the kind of mentality that got her to improve her game. On top of that, she is a greater threat to Aryna Sabalenka now than she was in 2024.

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