Due to an uncooperative shoulder injury, Aryna Sabalenka, a top contender for the women’s title at Wimbledon this year, had to pull out of the competition. The shocking news came after the Belarusian declared her withdrawal following an abruptly halted Monday morning practice session at the All England Club. Sabalenka had clinched her second major title earlier in the year at the Australian Open.
In a revealing Instagram post, Sabalenka admitted that despite her best efforts, including pushing her limits during practice, her shoulder was still causing problems. Her team had advised her not to compete as that would further exacerbate the situation. Prior to the tournament, she openly acknowledged the possibility of withdrawing from her first-round match against American opponent Emina Bektas. Notably, Sabalenka had previously withdrawn from a warm-up game in Berlin due to the same injury.
Describing her situation as ‘extremely frustrating’, Sabalenka underlined that she has never had to battle such grave injuries in her sports career, with recent times posing immense challenges to her. The persistent and varied pains she’s dealing with have influenced her mental state causing her to continuously strive for improvement and recovery.
Sabalenka, the third seed, had been projected to face Coco Gauff, the second seed, in the semi-finals. Her withdrawal, thus, paves the way for other players in her segment of the draw, to step up and make significant progression. Filling Sabalenka’s spot in the draw is Russian player Erika Andreeva, who is the older sister of the 24th seed, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Following her withdrawal, it’s not anticipated that the Belarusian will be seen back on the Tour until post-Olympics. She had already planned to skip the Paris Games to focus on her wellbeing.