WIMBLEDON
Why has Aryna Sabalenka withdrawn from Wimbledon?
The world’s No.3, who reached last year’s semi-finals, became the latest player to pull out of the tournament. She promises to be back next year.
Another one bites the dust. World No.3 Aryna Sabalenka became the latest player to gather her kit bag and make her way out through the exit door at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Having made it to the semi-finals in 2021 and last year (losing a memorable, epic battle with Ons Jabeur), Sabalenka withdrew from Wimbledon on Monday after picking up an injury.
Sabalenka’s shoulder issues forces her to pull out of Wimbledon
The 26-year-old was one of the big favorites to win this this year’s women’s singles title. Sabalenka clinched her first title of 2024 at the Australian Open and made it to the last 8 of the French Open but her progress was hampered by a stomach virus. Out of sorts, she was stunned by teenager Mirra Andreeva, losing a thrilling three-set French Open quarter-final.
The Belarusian has spent the past few days practicing at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club but noticed an issue with her serve which her medical team investigated. “I can practice, I can hit my groundstrokes but I’m struggling with serving. It’s really annoying. You don’t feel like you’re injured. If you give me some weights, I’m going to go lift some weights. But if you tell me to serve, I’m going to go through pain. We did an MRI, we did everything. We did a lot of rehab, a lot of treatments and everything,” she explained. “I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would only make things much worse”.
Andreeva replaces Sabalenka at Wimbledon
Sabalenka had been due to face 107th-ranked Emina Bektas in the opening round but the American will now face Erika Andreeva, Mirra’s elder sister, who lost to Great Britain’s Sonay Kartal in the final round of qualifying.
The news may well have come as a relief in Coco Gauff’s camp. The American No. 2 seed could have potentially met Sabalenka in the semi-finals further down the line but without the Belarusian, Coco’s route to the final is now looking a lot less complicated.
Sabalenka becomes the latest player to pull out of Wimbledon - Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Corentin Moutet, Dominik Koepfer, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Ekaterina Alexandrova have also withdrawn from Wimbledon, being replaced by Olga Danilovic, James Duckworth, Luca Van Assche, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Renata Zarazua respectively.