Wimbledon 2024: World number three Aryna Sabalenka withdraws ahead of first-round match with shoulder injury
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World number three Aryna Sabalenka has pulled out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury.
The 26-year-old has reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the last seven Grand Slams, but that run will come to an end after she withdrew ahead of her first-round match.
Sabalenka, who retired during a quarter-final match in Berlin in the build-up to Wimbledon, had been due to face Emina Bektas on Monday afternoon, but decided she was unable to compete after bringing a premature end to a practice session earlier in the day. She is replaced in the draw by lucky loser Erika Andreeva.
Sabalenka posted on Instagram: “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.
“I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would only make things much worse.
“This tournament means so much to me and I promise I'll be back stronger than ever next year.”
Sabalenka revealed at a press conference on Sunday that while the injury was not impacting the majority of her game, serving was a significant problem.
“The most annoying thing is that I can do anything,” she said.
“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.”
Sabalenka has reached the semi-finals on her last two Wimbledon appearances, losing to Karolina Pliskova in 2021 and Ons Jabeur last year.
She has already confirmed she will skip the Paris Olympics this summer to "take care of my health”, joining the likes of Jabeur and Emma Raducanu in making that decision.
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