Aryna Sabalenka pulls out of Wimbledon with shoulder injury
The Belarusian had said she was facing a race against time to fit for Wimbledon after a “rare” shoulder issue
Action Plus / Panoramic
Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn from this year’s Wimbledon Championships because of a shoulder injury.
The current world No 3 had previously said that she was struggling with a right-shoulder injury, and she faced a race to be fit in time for Wimbledon.
“It’s a very frustrating one,” she told media on Saturday.
“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 and everything.
“I still have my hopes. As someone who been fighting through a lot of different pains in the past months, I still have my hopes.”
But today, Sabalenka has officially withdrawn from the tournament just hours before her first-round match against Bektas.
Writing on social media, the Belarusian said she was “heartbroken” at having to withdraw.
She will be replaced by Russian lucky loser Erika Andreeva.
People in this post
More tennis news
Wimbledon: Sinner comes through testing all-Italian battle against Berrettini to reach third round
Wimbledon: Yastremska edges past Gracheva to reach third round
Wimbledon: Qualifier Sun moves into third round with win over Starodubtseva
All-white, People’s Sunday, Djokovic, wildcards: Everything you always wanted to know about Wimbledon 2024 (but never had time to find out) – updated with Murray/Raducanu mixed doubles announcement
Sir Andy, Wimbledon, metal hip: Everything you always wanted to know about Andy Murray (but never had time to find out) – updated with playing Mixed Doubles with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon 2024
