Elena Rybakina confirms her shoulder is definitely causing her some trouble but remains hopeful that it "won't get worse" when she meets Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA Finals final.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion, who has been playing with a strapped right shoulder throughout the season-ending tournament in Riyadh, was visibly in pain and discomfort during her semifinal match against Jessica Pegula. During one changeover, the world No. 6 was caught stretching and massaging her shoulder.
Despite the shoulder issue and losing the first set, Rybakina still found a way to win after pulling off a 4-6 6-4 6-3 win over Pegula.
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Now, the Kazakh tennis star is set for a major challenge since she is due to battle against world No. 1 Sabalenka in her maiden title match at the WTA Finals.
Rybakina on her shoulder: I've been managing it... Hopefully, it doesn't get worse against Sabalenka
Hopefully I can recover for tomorrow. Its been a lot of matches, and I also serve big, so I had to adjust a little bit. For now, Im pushing myself its one last match left, so Ill try to do everything possible with the team to recover. At the same time, we dont want to make it worse before the offseason. Well see how it goes, but for now, Ive been managing, and hopefully its not going to be worse tomorrow," the 26-year-old admitted.
Facing Sabalenka in a major final is one of the most difficult tasks in the game and there is no doubt that Rybakina will need her shoulder to hold properly to have a legitimate shot at beating the world No. 1.
