TORONTO \u2014 Aryna Sabalenka desperately needed a break.<\/p>\n
The WTA\u2019s top-ranked player had just been bounced from Wimbledon in the fourth round \u2014 her earliest Grand Slam exit since 2022 \u2014 on the heels of a stunning quarterfinal loss at the French Open a month prior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to get completely drunk, forget about tennis,\u201d Sabalenka told reporters July 5 in London after falling to Naomi Osaka in straight sets at the All England Club. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd try to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following some time away from the game, her journey starts anew at the National Bank Open.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka headlines a star-studded field at Canada\u2019s annual showcase with the aim of turning things around on North America\u2019s hard courts coming off a challenging stretch on Europe\u2019s grass and clay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying a couple things,\u201d the 28-year-old from Belarus said Sunday at Sobeys Stadium. \u201cDidn\u2019t go the way that I expected, and now we\u2019re kind of back to basics, and I really hope it\u2019s going to work out well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabalenka will have been off almost a month \u2014 including some down time in Greece \u2014 when she\u2019s scheduled to open her tournament Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest was much-needed,\u201d said the four-time Grand Slam winner. \u201cI suffered during the summer swing a lot with my body (and) mentally also a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hunger returned after about a week of decompression.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt much better,\u201d Sabalenka added. \u201cI couldn\u2019t wait to get back on court and start working toward my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the names joining her at the US$7.4-million WTA 1000 event are world No. 2 Elena Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka to claim this year\u2019s Australian Open, two-time NBO champion Jessica Pegula, two-time Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff, and 2026 French Open titleholder Mirra Andreeva.<\/p>\n
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is the only seeded Canadian at No. 30.<\/p>\n
The WTA\u2019s top-ranked player since October 2024, Sabalenka skipped last year\u2019s Canadian stop in Montreal due to fatigue after winning the French Open and making Wimbledon\u2019s semifinals.<\/p>\n
While most of the top women\u2019s talent available is in Toronto, the men\u2019s bracket saw a trend of late, high-profile withdrawals continue after world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 5 Novak Djokovic pulled the plug on their participation.<\/p>\n
The NBO represents the start of a hectic run-up to the U.S. Open that also features the Cincinnati Open, which begins before the final matches in both Toronto and Montreal, where the men are competing in 2026.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka said it\u2019s a lot of tennis in a short period, especially when shifting to the hard courts.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery tricky scheduling lots of (longer) tournaments,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you go far at the grass (events), you don\u2019t have much time to reset, recharge, and go back on court to practise and then play the tournament \u2026 skipping the vacation time, which is really needed after that big part of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabalenka added a packed schedule and changing surfaces means players have to make difficult decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go far in the grass court (season), you feel really fatigued and you\u2019re not able to pull out any good tennis,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the reason of coming when your body is really under so much stress? Not enough time for recovery, you force your body too much, and then it can cause you an injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a sub-par showing on grass and clay, however, Sabalenka\u2019s path was straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year I didn\u2019t do well,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cSo I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
CHAMP IS ALSO HERE<\/p>\n
Wimbledon winner Linda Noskova reflected on a wild month after she defeated Karolina Muchova in an all-Czechia final.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last couple of weeks have been nothing more but crazy and chaos,\u201d said the 21-year-old ranked No. 7 in the world. \u201cI\u2019m glad I can start over. It\u2019s a new week, new tournament, new surface. It\u2019s all the changes at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll have to get used to it as fast as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
PUSHING AHEAD<\/p>\n
Andreeva, who won her first Grand Slam at the French Open, will debut in Toronto coming off a 2025 third-round loss in Montreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the dreams that I was able to accomplish,\u201d said the 19-year-old Russian. \u201cI\u2019m happy it happened, but now I also have to focus on the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2026.<\/p>\n
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Aryna Sabalenka desperately needed a break. The WTA\u2019s top-ranked player had just been bounced from Wimbledon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-843887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}