Throughout the identical interview – during which she sat alongside Nick Kyrgios to advertise their upcoming “Battle of the Sexes” in Dubai on December 28 – Sabalenka was requested about latest feedback from Marta Kostyuk, the Ukrainian world No 26, who had claimed in October that she was at an obstacle towards gamers like Sabalenka and this summer time’s Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek as a result of they’ve a better degree of testosterone than her.
“All I hear right here is simply excuses,” Sabalenka replied. “It’s truly fairly humorous, as a result of she [Kostyuk] is a powerful lady, and she or he in all probability has extra muscular tissues than I do and she or he appears to be like match and powerful, and I believe that [a difference in testosterone levels] shouldn’t be the case in all of the matches she misplaced towards prime gamers.”
One different space of controversy that got here up within the interview was the apparently unequal remedy proven to high-profile tennis gamers who’ve examined optimistic for banned substances.
There was backstage unrest inside the sport over the best way that Swiatek and males’s world No 2 Jannik Sinner each obtained comparatively gentle and handy sentences on grounds of contamination, after they every returned a optimistic take a look at in 2024. In the meantime, lesser names have typically needed to serve prolonged provisional suspensions earlier than their instances have been heard.
Sabalenka sounded as if she shared the overall sense of scepticism about the entire course of, however ultimately settled for a imprecise assertion of unease.
“With Iga, they counted her weeks [of suspension, which ran to one month] off one way or the other randomly,” Sabalenka stated. “‘Okay, we depend them throughout the China swing, after which you possibly can play the [WTA] Finals, after which we take a few weeks throughout the subsequent season.’ I believe we must always have the identical remedy for each participant.”
Sabalenka and Kyrgios – who’s ranked at No 672 after many months of absence by way of damage – are to contest their match over three units in Dubai. Enjoying situations state that every participant may have only one serve per level, whereas the courtroom shall be 9 per cent smaller on Sabalenka’s aspect. Dwell protection is to be out there on BBC2.
Leave a Reply