Emma Raducanu and
Anett Kontaveit were among the top
WTA stars listed as examples of how 'brutal' tennis can be.
Four of the players ranked top 10 in the WTA Rankings this time last year are now either retired or temporarily absent from the sport, as tennis biographer Christopher Clarey has pointed out.
Raducanu,
Paula Badosa, and
Garbine Muguruza have all missed significant parts of the 2023 season, including the upcoming
US Open. Meanwhile, Kontaveit retired earlier this year due to a back injury.
Top-ranked players absent just a year later
Estonian player Kontaveit was ranked No. 2 in the world last year behind Iga Swiatek. She won six WTA titles over the course of her career and reached the quarter-finals of the 2020 Australian Open.
However, at just 27 years old, Kontaveit was forced into early retirement due to a chronic back injury.
Meanwhile, two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza was world No. 8 in August last year but had fallen out of the top 50 by the end of the season. After losing six consecutive matches between September 2022 and January 2023, the Spaniard announced that she was taking an indefinite break from the sport, and has not yet announced when she will return.
In April, Muguruza posted an update on her Instagram highlighting how much she'd needed a break from the fast-paced world of tennis.
"Spending time with family and friends and it's really been healthy and amazing so I am going to lengthen this period till summer. Therefore I'm going to miss the clay and grass season," the 29-year-old wrote.
Raducanu and Badosa out with injuries
Meanwhile, former world No. 3 Badosa and former No. 10 Raducanu have both had to shut down a lot of their 2023 season. The latter has been absent since April after she decided to undergo surgery to combat ongoing wrist injuries.
Raducanu has opened up about the hardships involved in competing on the WTA Tour before, describing it as a 'brutal' experience. Nevertheless, the 20-year-old is hoping to return in December 2023.
At the same time, Badosa has been forced to make sporadic appearances on the WTA Tour this season due to injury. The 25-year-old missed the Australian Open and Roland Garros, before retiring from Wimbledon in the second round due to a stress fracture.
Now, the same fracture has caused her to withdraw from the US Open and put an end to her season.
