Another late withdrawal: Victoria Mboko withdraws from the Rome Open due to gastrointestinal illness

Victoria Mboko has become the latest player to withdraw from the Rome Open. Following in the footsteps of Amanda Anisimova, the Canadian pulls out of the event just hours before her clash against Tyra Grant due to gastrointestinal illness.

It has been a troubling time off court for the 19-year-old who is encountering her first health and fitness problems since becoming a regular on the WTA Tour. She was forced to pull out of Canada's Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan, which they lost, due to her having major wisdom teeth surgery.

The world number nine had come off the back of a brace of quarterfinals in the Sunshine swing, continuing her imperious form on the big stage while showing her intent to continue to rise up the rankings.

Already a two-time WTA finalist in 2026, she lost both the Adelaide International and the WTA 1000 Qatar Open events to Mirra Andreeva and Karolina Muchova respectively.

However, she has not had the best of it in recent times. A surprising defeat to Caty McNally in her opening match of the Madrid Open was a major blow, and so far her only match on clay ahead of a return to Roland Garros. There will be no tennis being played in Rome this year. After making the second round last year, Mboko has been forced to pull out of her clash against fellow young talent Grant due to illness.

Nikola Bartunkova will be the latest lucky loser fortunate to have a second bite at the cherry in Rome. A similar thing occurred yesterday when two-time Grand Slam finalist Anisimova withdrew a couple of hours before he matchup against Jelena Ostapenko with her left wrist injury still not fully healing.

The race to be fit for Roland Garros is now on, but her preparation will not be up to scratch. Having made it to the third round on debut last year, she will be hoping to make it even further this year as her rise through tennis continues, but for the time being is abruptly halted.