Two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has pulled out of Wimbledon after recently casting doubt on her participation in the tournament. 

The world No.3 has withdrawn from the tournament due to a shoulder injury, according to an official statement from the AELTC. Sabalenka would have been a title contender in the tournament after reaching the quarter-finals or better at the last seven Grand Slam tournaments. 

“I’m heartbroken to tell you all that I won’t be able to play the Championships this year,” Sabalenka said in a statement posted on social media.
“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 worse. 
“This tournament means so much to me and I promise I’ll be back stronger.”

Over the weekend, the 26-year-old admitted to reporters that she was ‘not 100 percent fit’ and was struggling with a shoulder injury that forced her to withdraw from her match against Anna Kalinskaya at the Berlin Open in Germany. She later added that there was a ‘chance’ that she wouldn’t be playing. 

“It’s teres major,” she said of her physical issue. “I call it just shoulder injury. 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. [It’s] a very frustrating one. 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. We did an MRI, we did everything. We did a lot of rehab, a lot of treatments.”

Sabalenka has now missed Wimbledon in three out of the past five years. However, the tournament wasn’t held in 2020 due to COVID-19 and in 2022 she was unable to play because of the decision to ban Russian and Belarussian players. 

She will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Erika Andrea, who will play Emma Betkas in the first round on Monday. 

Marketa Vondrousova predicts ‘many surprises’ will occur in this year’s Wimbledon draw as she bids to become the first woman since 2016 to defend their title. 

The Czech stunned the draw 12 months ago when she beat Ons Jabeur to claim her first and only major title. Her triumph made Vondrousova the seventh different player to win the trophy in as many years. The women’s game has had a reputation for inconsistency over the years but more shocks appear to occur on the grass. 

“I think the draw is really open, for sure. I think we can expect many surprises on the grass courts. I feel like you never know what’s going to happen there,” the world No.6 said on Sunday. 
“I feel like women’s tennis and women’s draws are really open these days and matches are tough, even from the first round. I think we can expect tough matches from the first matches.”

It is this unpredictability that is making the 25-year-old stay grounded about her chances in this year’s event. She is yet to win a title in 2024 with her best run being on the clay when she reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart, as well as the quarter-finals of the French Open. More recently, in Berlin, she suffered an injury scare after slipping on the German grass. 

“I feel like you just have to prepare for the stress and the pressure. Now people are watching you more, they expect you to play semis or finals in every tournament. I don’t think that’s possible.” She said.
“I don’t think you can feel stress-free at all when you are 6 in the world.”

Fortunately for Vondrousova, the scare wasn’t significant enough to have any impact on her Wimbledon preparation. In the first round, she will take on Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro who has won two ITF events and a WTA 125 already this year. 

“It was really scary. I didn’t play for a couple of days. I’m feeling good. I hope it’s going to be okay.” She concluded.

The last woman to win back-to-back Wimbledon titles was Serena Williams.

On the 50th anniversary of Chris Evert’s maiden Wimbledon win, she returns to the Grand Slam in the middle of a new documentary being produced about her and fellow rival Martina Navratilova. 

Evert, who won three out of her 18 major titles at the All England Club, remembers her 1974 triumph as if it was yesterday. Speaking to the media on Sunday afternoon, she detailed her roller-coaster journey to the title and the obstacles she faced. How she managed to beat Lesley Hunt in her opening match with the help of some advice from her former partner, Jimmy Connors, who told her to go to the net. Although she believes her maiden triumph was one she was lucky to win. 

“I remember that year I should never have won Wimbledon because I was in the same tournament as Billie Jean King, who I hadn’t beaten on grass yet, and Evonne Goolagong, who had my number on grass,” Evert said during a special Wimbledon press conference. 
“Martina and I often talk about the Wimbledons you should have won. That was one that I had no right winning.”

The American’s career was shaped by her incredible rivalry with nine-time Wimbledon champion Navratilova, who she lost to in five finals. They locked horns 80 times in the sport, with 60 of those meetings being in tournament finals. Over the year’s a strong bold formed between the two, who at one stage were also a formidable doubles pairing. 

“We really got close emotionally. Then Martina started beating me. I felt like, Okay, she’s getting too close, she knows my emotions, she knows my game too well.” She said. 
“I had to tell her, I can’t play doubles with you because I feel like it’s affecting my singles.
“I always found it hard to play a match against somebody that I cared about, especially like my sister Jeanne. I had to play against her three times, and it was awful.”

The two tennis greats continue to be there for each other until this day, even when tragedy occurs. At the same time, both women were diagnosed with cancer but have since beaten the disease. Evert has had ovarian cancer, whilst Navratilova also had the disease in her breasts and throat.

“This cancer brought us much closer together, which is kind of ironic that something like that would be kind of a blessing in a way, in many ways, and one of those ways that it brought us closer together,” Evert commented. 

Even now the duo remain highly influential in the world of tennis with each of them turning to broadcasting. Unlike others in the sport, they don’t shy away from speaking out about social issues such as the upcoming US elections or Navratilova’s view on transgender athletes. Earlier this year they co-wrote an article opposing the stage of the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia due to its human rights record. 

As for their legacy in the sport, like on the court Navratilova believes there is always room for improvement in women’s tennis. 

“It’s thrilling to see the attention and the money that everybody is making now. It could be better. At least we have equal prize money at all the majors.” She said. 
“I think the women’s tennis was kind of at the forefront of women realizing they can ask for more and feel that they’re worth it.”

It is yet to be confirmed when the upcoming documentary about Evert and Navratilova will be released. It is being produced by EverWonder Studio and Meadowlark Media with their focus being on a series of topics. One of which is to encourage more people to undergo medical checks following their experiences.

“That’s part of the documentary. To help people take care of themselves and to motivate people to maybe do a little bit more with themselves.” Navratilova concludes.