Tennis

Aryna Sabalenka blows hole in Wimbledon draw after pulling out

Belarusian, who won Australian Open earlier this year, withdrew due to a shoulder injury

Aryna Sabalenka on day one of Wimbledon. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Aryna Sabalenka on day one of Wimbledon. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Simon Cambers at Wimbledon
Mon Jul 01 2024 - 16:14

Aryna Sabalenka, one of the favourites for the women’s title at Wimbledon this year, blew a hole in the draw on Monday when she withdrew due to a shoulder injury. The Belarusian, who won her second grand slam title earlier in the year at the Australian Open, practised at the All England Club on Monday morning but stopped her session abruptly and announced her withdrawal shortly afterwards.

“I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not co-operating,” she said on Instagram. “I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best but my team explained that playing would make only make things much worse.”

After pulling out of a warm-up event in Berlin, Sabalenka had been unusually candid in her pre-tournament press conference on Saturday, admitting that there was a chance she would not make it on to court for her first-round match, against the American Emina Bektas. The 26-year-old, a semi-finalist in her last two appearances here, said the injury was to her teres major muscle, which caused her pain when serving.

“It’s really frustrating,” she said on Saturday. “I never dealt with serious injuries in my career. The struggles I’m going through right now, that’s a lot. I mean, I would say that the past month, being like really challenging for me. I’ve been fighting through a lot of different pains. Whatever pain, I’m going to tell you that I had it, I was fighting through it. It’s really frustrating. It’s always in my head. I’m always, like, hoping for the best. I’m always thinking what should I do to get back on track. That’s a lot of mental work. That’s really tough.”

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Seeded number three, Sabalenka had been expected to play Coco Gauff, the number two seed, in the semi-finals but her withdrawal offers a golden opportunity to those in her section of the draw to make a big run. Sabalenka was replaced in the draw by Erika Andreeva of Russia, the older sister of 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the number 24 seed.

The Belarusian is now not expected to return to the Tour until after the Olympics, having already decided to skip the Paris Games in order to prioritise her health.