BREAKING. Incredibly sad news as #3 Aryna Sabalenka, two-time semifinalist, withdraws from #Wimbledon with a shoulder injury. Bottom side of the Women's Draw now VERY OPEN. Erika Andreeva is as LL.
Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Wimbledon due to 'very rare' shoulder injury hours before opener
WTAMonday, 01 July 2024 at 13:57
Aryna Sabalenka won't play at this year's Wimbledon mere hours away from her opener against Emina Bektas which was due to take place on Court One at SW19. But this is perhaps not unexpected after the World No.3 said she was unsure if she would play due to a very rare shoulder injury.
Sabalenka said going into Wimbledon that while she felt fine serving in particular was an issue so it was more a pain that was tweaked when going for certain shots which could cause her problems as a result.
"It's teres major," No.3 seed Sabalenka said, describing the nature of her injury. "I call it just shoulder injury. It's really a specific injury, and it's really a rare one. Probably I'm just the second or the third tennis player who injured that muscle. [It's] a very frustrating one. The most annoying thing is that I can do anything. I can practice, I can hit my groundstrokes. I'm struggling with serving. That'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."
She was reported to have left practice abruptly this morning before deciding to withdraw early on Monday afternoon with Centre Court action taking place in just over half an hour and Sabalenka due to be playing initially after the opener. It is a huge blow to the World No.3 after having to play unwell against Mirra Andreeva at the French Open and now having to withdraw from a major where she is a three-time semi-finalist.
One player who is set to massively benefit is Coco Gauff. The World No.2 who now won't meet Iga Swiatek for the first time in a Grand Slam only until the final will now see this section blown wide open with Erika Andreeva now inserted as a lucky loser.
Just In
Popular News
