With The Championships barely a couple of hours old came the news that one of the title favorites, Aryna Sabalenka, had pulled out of the Ladies Singles with a shoulder injury, leaving the competition wide open, while Emma Raducanu’s opponent, Ekaterina Alexandrova, also withdrew at the last moment due to illness.
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. Aryna Sabalenka
The Russian, who is a grass court specialist, was seeded No 22, and is replaced by lucky loser Renata Zarazua in the 2nd match on Centre Court against Raducanu.
The Mexican is a far easier match-up for the 21-year old Brit, with an all-time 7-9 record on grass and barely ranked inside the Top 100.
Raducanu is now the huge favorite to win this match, but last-minute changes can really impact the game plan and preparation.
The change makes the Brit a dark horse in the draw, if she can play well.
Emma Raducanu and her coach, Nick Cavaday, will have prepared to face Ekaterina Alexandrova, but now she will play Renata Zarazua after the Russia withdrew due to illness on Monday
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Meanwhile, 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 was the No 3 seed in the lower half of the draw, and much fancied by bookies as a contender for the title.
The Belarusian was set to play the second match on No 1 Court against 31-year old American Emina Bektas in the 1st-round, but she cut short her practice early on Monday before All England Club organizers confirmed that she had been forced to withdraw.
Erika Andreeva from Russia, the older sister of French Open semi-finalist Mirra Andreeva, replaces Sabalenka in the main draw as a lucky loser.
Over the weekend, Sabalenka revealed that she was ‘not 100 per cent’, after shoulder pain forced her to withdraw from the recent tournament in Berlin.
“We’re doing everything we can with my team to make sure I’ll be able to play my first match here,” she told media on Saturday. ”I’m not 100 per cent ready.
“It’s really a specific injury, and it’s really a rare one. Probably I’m just the second or the third tennis player who injured that muscle.
“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. But I still have my hopes.”
She has also suffered a lower back injury earlier in the year, and struggled with illness at the French Open.
Sabalenka reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2021 and 2023, but missed the 2022 edition due to a ban on Belarusian and Russian players over the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The two-time Australian Open champion briefly was World No 1 in September, and a favorite to triumph over the next few weeks alongside Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
Greet Minnen beat her doubles partner Heather Watson in straight sets in the 1st-round at Wimbledon
© Benoit Doppagne/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, out on Court 18, Heather Watson’s 14th Wimbledon campaign lasted just one hour and 40 minutes after she was beaten by her doubles partner, Greet Minnen, 7-5 6-4.
Watson received a wild-card into the draw, having slipped to 199 in the rankings, and was the first British player in action on Monday, but the 32-year-old was edged out by the Belgian World No 80 in two tight sets.
Trailing 1-4 in the first, Watson won 4 straight games to serve for the opener at 5-4, but her serve let her down, and Minnen was able to forge ahead.
The second went with serve until an unfortunate Watson double-fault brought up match point for Minnen, which she dispatched to send the former British No 1 to the exit gate.
