Karolina Pliskova has become the latest top name to pull out of the Australian Open after suffering a training injury.
The world No.4 will miss the entire Australian swing in January after hurting her right hand during a training session on Wednesday. She was also due to play events in Adelaide and Sydney. It is unclear as to how the Czech sustained the injury or how severe it currently is.
“Unfortunately I hurt my right hand in practice yesterday (Wednesday) and I won’t be able to play in Adelaide, Sydney and the Australian Open this year,” Pliskova said in a statement.
“I am sad not being able to start my season in Australia and I will miss my Australian fans very much.” She added.
It is the first time in Pliskova’s career she is missing the Melbourne major since making her debut back in 2013. Her best result at the tournament was in 2019 when she reached the semi-finals. The 29-year-old has also reached the quarter-final stage on two other occasions. Pliskova has won a total of 22 matches at the Australian Open which makes it her second most successful Grand Slam in terms of match wins. Her first is the US Open where she has recorded 24 victories.
This season the 29-year-old has achieved a win-loss record of 39-17 on the Tour. She has reached three finals with the most notable of those being at Wimbledon where she was ousted in three sets by Ash Barty. It is the first year Pliskova hasn’t won a title of any sort since 2012. Nevertheless she has still managed to win $2,829,000 in prize money which is the fourth highest tally in women’s tennis after Aryna Sabalenka, Barbora Krejčíková and Barty.
Pliskova’s withdrawal follows that of Bianca Andreescu and Serena Williams who pulled out of the tournament last week. Andreescu will not be playing due to personal reasons and Williams said she is yet to reach full fitness in order to play.
The Australian Open will get underway on January 17th. Naomi Osaka is the defending champion in the women’s draw.
