Tennis news: Aryna Sabalenka storm erupts over injury excuse for missing Dubai tournament

World number one Aryna Sabalenka has hit back after her withdrawal from the Dubai Tennis Championships caused a storm.

The 27-year-old pulled the pin on playing in the WTA 1000 event one day before the mid-February tournament, citing a minor hip injury as the reason behind her not playing.

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World number two Iga Swiatek also withdrew from the event a day before with the Polish star stating a change in schedule.

The loss of the two best female players on the planet didn’t sit well with tournament Salah Tahlak hitting out and calling for the WTA to hand out harsher punishments.

“It was an unfortunate surprise to get news of the withdrawal of Aryna and Iga. And the reasons for withdrawal were a bit strange. Iga said she wasn’t mentally ready to compete, while Sabalenka said she has some minor injuries,” Tahlak said.

“So I don’t know. I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players (for withdrawing), not just fines; they should be docked ranking points.

“I even asked the (tournament) doctor, what is the injury? He said it’s a minor injury, not one that would force her to withdraw from the tournament. And for Iga, I asked, ‘Isn’t this a strange decision?’”

Sabalenka ultimately returned to the court in March at the Indian Wells Masters with the Belarusian exacting her Australian Open revenge on Elena Rybakina in the final as she won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.

The four-time grand slam winner was asked about the remarks from Tahlak with the recently engaged star not biting her tongue.

“I’m not sure if I ever want to go (back) there, after his comment,” she said via Bounces.

Making her remarks even more interesting is the fact that Sabalenka is based in Dubai, meaning she appears set to boycott one of the WTA’s elite events that is effectively a home tournament.

Her comments came ahead of the Miami Open which Sabalenka will kick off on Friday as the top seed.

Despite the uproar created by her withdrawal from the event, Sabalenka has been living it up following her Australian Open final

She caused a stir with an “age restricted” sultry video of herself strutting in front of a camera and showing off her revealing, designer label ensemble.

The video sent her 1.5 million TikTok followers into a frenzy with the clip viewed more than 420,000 times on the platform and another 400,000 on X.

Days after the viral upload, the star was caught off guard by her partner Georgios Frangulis who got down on one knee and popped the question.

The loved-up couple were surrounded by flowers and candles as they kissed in a heartfelt moment captured on video and posted to Instagram.

Sabalenka captioned the footage “You & me, forever” along with infinity, wedding ring and white heart emojis.

She celebrated her week by winning the Indian Wells Masters and flashing her enormous engagement ring to the crowd.

“Thanks to my fiancé (Georgios Franguli)! What a week, getting a puppy, getting engaged and winning the title,” she said.

“I will definitely remember it for the rest of my life. Thank you everyone.”

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