Sabalenka and tennis stars demand amendment to the 2028 Olympics calendar amid the start of the Cincinnati tournament

World number one Aryna Sabalenka qualified for the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday, after a difficult victory over Australian Talia Gibson.

Australian Gibson saved 5 chances to decide the match in the twelfth game of the second set, before Sabalenka succeeded in settling the confrontation via the tie-break, after scoring a final successful strike to end the match with a score of 6-2 and 7-6 (7-2), in just under two hours, on the Grandstand Stadium, which witnessed strong winds.

“I'm so tired, this weather is crazy,” Sabalenka said. “Talia played a great match and was more aggressive in the second set.”

She added: “I put more pressure on my serve games. “I am happy because I maintained my calm and was able to decide the match in two sets without a response.”

Sabalenka won the Cincinnati title in 2024, and hopes to go far in the tournament in order to gain momentum before the US Open, where she will seek to win her first Grand Slam title this year.

The Belarusian won 3 titles during the year 2026, but she has not won any title since the Miami tournament last March.

Sabalenka qualified, along with Australian Open champion Rybakina and Roland Garros champion Andreeva, who continued their journey in a convincing manner.

American Coco Gauff, ranked fourth, had to exert greater effort to defeat Russian Lyudmila Samsonova, ranked 43rd in the world, with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, while her compatriot Ben Shelton, who rose to sixth place in the world after being crowned “Masters Montreal” last week, bid farewell to the tournament at the hands of Portuguese Jaime Faria, ranked 79th in the world.

Rybakina and her competitors play extensive preparatory tournaments.

Elena Rybakina and a number of prominent tennis stars demanded changes to the 2028 season calendar, after it was revealed that the tennis competitions at the Los Angeles Olympic Games will begin only three days after the end of the Wimbledon Championship.

According to The Guardian, Rybakina described the situation as “crazy,” while Aryna Sabalenka considered the specific time interval between the two tournaments to be “ridiculous,” amid growing concerns about the players’ ability to travel between two continents and quickly adapt to the transition from grass to hard courts.

The organizers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics announced last month that the tennis competitions would be held between July 19 and 28, while the men's singles final will be held at Wimbledon on July 16, which means that the players who reach the final rounds in the British Championship will have a very limited period of time before the start of the Olympic competitions.

Sabalenka said that changing the calendar should be up for discussion, adding: “Just three days after the men’s final at Wimbledon, this is ridiculous.” “The Olympics is a huge event, and you participate in it once every four years.”

She stressed the need to give the players at least a week between the two tournaments, considering that the current schedule imposes great physical pressure on them.

Rybakina agreed, saying: “It's crazy to know that the Olympics come only two days after Wimbledon. “We hope that something will change so that it becomes more convenient for everyone.”

Daniil Medvedev joined the calls for change, stressing that he was not aware of the short interval, and said: “If it is three days, make it at least six. Even six days is not good, but try to make it six or seven days.”

For her part, Iga Šivuntek considered that the problem reflects a broader crisis in the game’s calendar and the failure to give players’ safety sufficient priority.