It has been a jam-packed tennis season so far, with tournaments happening week after week. Naturally, it requires players to plan out their schedule effectively, especially the top stars who reach the business end of the tournaments more often than not. Take the case of Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian star played non-stop tennis during the grass-court and clay-court seasons, often reaching the finals. Thus, she decided to take a short break and skipped the Citi Open and the National Bank Open. When a fan called her out for doing so, she found support in the form of Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs.

A few days back, a fan took to X to slam Sabalenka after she cited fatigue and pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal. The fan wrote, “This can’t be true! So one of the highest paid athletes in the world with a team of physios, fitness trainers and coaches who plays best of 3, gets 2 days rest between matches in Slams, and M1000s, doesn’t play doubles and still manages fatigue? The problem can’t be the schedule.”

However, this didn’t go down well with Stubbs, who, in turn, called out the fan for blaming female stars and not calling out male stars who had also withdrawn from the National Bank Open. Stubbs hit back by writing, “You clearly have a problem with women. I don’t see you complaining and going after all the men that pulled out of Canada. U seem very clear with your hate.”

The National Bank Open saw several withdrawals not just on the women’s side, but also on the men’s side. Stars like Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and many others pulled out of the tournament, citing a hectic schedule ahead, with the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open coming up. Thus, Stubbs wasn’t happy that the fan singled out Sabalenka and didn’t say anything about the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz.

Meanwhile, it was more of a strategic call from Sabalenka rather than injury concerns that led to her withdrawal from the tournament in Montreal. She opened up about her plans for the US Open Swing while announcing her decision to skip the National Bank Open.

Aryna Sabalenka is looking forward to the US Open

Sabalenka is the defending US Open champion and has a huge task of defending her ranking points to finish off the year at the top of the WTA rankings chart. Thus, she is taking no chances and wants to enter the US Open Swing in the best possible shape. Before the tournament in Montreal, she explained why she was pulling out of the event.

Sabalenka said, “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.”

However, Sabalenka wasn’t the only one who took this path. The likes of Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic also decided to have adequate rest in between the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open. All these stars will be back in action in Cincinnati ahead of the US Open, which will take place later this month. With all the big names well rested, the fans are sure to see them in prime shape!