Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury.
The two-time Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed at this year’s Wimbledon tournament was scheduled to face American Emina Bektas in the first round. Sabalenka has been dealing with shoulder pain since withdrawing from her quarterfinal match at the Berlin Women’s Open more than a week ago.
“I am heartbroken to have to tell you that I will not be able to play The Championships this year. I tried everything I could to prepare, but unfortunately my shoulder is not cooperating,” Sabalenka wrote on Instagram Monday.
“In practice today I did my best to try to do my best, but my team explained to me that playing would only make things worse. “This tournament means a lot to me and I promise that I will come back stronger than ever next year.”
Sabalenka, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in each of her last two appearances, said the injury has been “very frustrating” because she has been able to practice but has had problems serving.
“If they give me some weights, I’m going to lift them,” Sabalenka said. “But if they tell me to serve, I’m going to suffer pain. We did an MRI, we did everything. We did a lot of rehabilitation, a lot of treatments and everything.”
Sabalenka will be replaced by Russian Erika Andreeva, who lost in the final round of qualifying.