- Australian Open champion forced out by shoulder injury
- Belarusian now not expected to play until after Olympics
Aryna Sabalenka, one of the favourites for the women’s title at Wimbledon this year, blew a hole in the draw on Monday when she withdrew due to a shoulder injury. The Belarusian, who won her second grand slam title earlier in the year at the Australian Open, practised at the All England Club on Monday morning but stopped her session abruptly and announced her withdrawal shortly afterwards.
“I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not co-operating,” she said on Instagram. “I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best but my team explained that playing would make only make things much worse.”