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World No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka on Monday, July 1 withdrew from the ongoing Wimbledon 2024. The two-time Grand Slam champion, who entered the Wimbledon 2024 after lifting the Australian Open earlier this year, was scheduled to take on Emina Bektas of the United States. The Belarusian’s decision came just during the match as she encountered some shoulder injury.
Sabalenka took to Instagram to share the update where she wrote of this “heartbroken” moment. " Heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won't be able to play The Championships this year. I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not cooperating," Sabalenka wrote in a statement.
"I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would make things much worse. This tournament means so much to me and I promise I'll be back stronger than ever next year," Sabalenka added.
It is to be noted that the 25-year-old had earlier hinted that she may be forced to pull out of the Grand Slam tournament after suffering an injury at the recent tournament in Berlin. “I’m not 100 percent fit no. There is always a chance, yeah. It’s really a specific injury, and it’s really a rare one,” she had responded when asked about withdrawing from the Champions earlier.
After Sabalenka’s withdrawal, the Wimbledon replaced her by Russian Erika Andreeva. Andreeva will now face America qualifier Emina Bektas in the first round of Wimbledon 2024.
