Badosa and Tomljanovic pull out of Australian Open
Leolia Jeanjean and Laura Pigossi move into the main draw as lucky losers
The women’s singles draw at the Australian Open saw two big names pull out on Saturday – former world No 2 Paula Badosa and local favourite Ajla Tomljanovic.
As a result of their withdrawals, Leolia Jeanjean and Laura Pigossi, two players who lost in the final round of qualifying, move into the main draw as lucky losers.
Badosa, ranked No 11 in the world, said she had hurt her abductor during her quarter-final win in adelaide this week, which also forced her to pull out of the semi-finals there yesterday. In her post, the Spaniard said she is really going to miss playing the first Grand Slam of the season but promised to be back as soon as possible.
Tomljanovic, ranked 35th in the world and a quarter-finalist at the previous two Grand Slams, also pulled out due to a knee injury.
In her message on social media, Tomljanovic said, “I’m sorry”. It absolutely pains me to have to write this message but, unfortunately, I won’t be able to compete at this year’s Australian Open. I’ve done absolutely everything in my power to get healthy but just ran out of time to heal and be 100 percent ready to compete at a high level.”
The Australian Open kicks off on Monday in Melbourne Park with Poland’s Iga Swiatek as the top seed followed by Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, American Jessica Pegula, and France’s Caroline Garcia.