World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka has declared herself pain-free following a lower back injury in Rome but remains cautious as she heads into Saturday's final against Iga Swiatek, ready to withdraw if necessary to protect her French Open prospects.
Sabalenka suffered the injury during her fourth-round match against Elina Svitolina, requiring a lengthy medical timeout and displaying remarkable resilience to save three match points and secure victory in the early hours of Tuesday.
Despite skipping practice, Sabalenka received treatment on her rest day and went on to defeat former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, followed by a convincing 7-5, 6-2 win over Danielle Collins in the semifinals.
"I was considering retiring from the tournament. Lucky me, I had an extra day. I was doing a lot of recovery. I'm still doing lots of exercise, treatments, taking care of my lower back. It's getting better. I guess we're on the right way," Sabalenka said.
"I'm doing everything to recover as fast as I can and to be ready for Paris. Right now I'm feeling great. I'm not in pain during matches.
"Of course, if something is going to happen in the match I'm going to pull out because Paris is around the corner. Hopefully, it's not going to happen. I feel like it's not going to."
Sabalenka, who is bidding to avenge a three-set defeat by world No. 1 Swiatek in a gripping Madrid final earlier this month, paid tribute to the physiotherapists in Rome.
"It was a crazy injury. I thought, 'OK, I'm done in Rome.' But we did great treatment, great physios," Sabalenka said.
"I really appreciate the physio that helped me to stay alive and actually fix the problem."
The French Open begins on May 26.
