"I need a few more days to recover" - Elina Svitolina pulls out of Bad Homburg Open quarter-final on day top two seeds also exit

The Bad Homburg draw has been obliterated. After Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva slumped to defeats, Elina Svitolina has withdrawn from the tournament, citing a right hip injury.

The Ukrainian came from a set down to take out Liudmila Samsonova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the last-16 to reach the quarter-finals with a showdown against Xinyu Wang set to be played out on Thursday 25th June.

This will not occur with Wang set for a route through to the semi-finals. Svitolina came off the back of another quarter-final in Germany, this time losing 6-3, 6-4 against Alexandra Eala in the Berlin Open to open her grass account. Another WTA 500 tournament ends early for her as she exits with full focus now on Wimbledon.

On the Bad Homburg Open X account, she said a few words to confirm the news. "Hi guys, it's Elena here. Unfortunately, I will be pulling out from my quarterfinal match here in Bad Hamburg. Last night was a hard-fought victory, but it took a little bit more than expected out of my body, so therefore I need a few more days to recover.

"I wish all the best to all the players who are still competing and a lot of success to the tournament and hopefully to see you all next year."

This news is more detrimental to the outcome of this tournament as it first seems. Svitolina was the number three seed and one of the favourites to win the title, so that already opens up that part of the draw.

However, with both Andreeva and Swiatek losing, the title is there for the taking. Andreeva began her campaign on grass with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova. Later in the day, the number one seed and last year's finalist, Swiatek, fell 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to Nottingham Open finalist Emma Navarro who is on a great period of form.

The number four seed Karolina Muchova is still yet to compete, but she is the only top four player left in the tournament. Aside from that, Naomi Osaka is the only seed left still competing. The likes of Wang, Navarro, Alexandrova, Clara Tauson and Elena-Gabriela Ruse may sense a chance for the title. With Wimbledon also on the horizon, this would be the perfect way of entering the tournament with a ton of momentum on their side.