World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka’s wait to win a Porsche at the Stuttgart Open will continue for another as she has become the latest player to withdraw from the WTA 500 event.
The four-time Grand Slam winner was due to be the top seed at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but she confirmed that she won’t feature due to injury.
The German event was due to be Sabalenka’s first tournament since she completed the Sunshine Double in March by winning both the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open.
The Belarusian has reached four finals in Stuttgart as she lost last year’s final against Jelena Otapenko while she also finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek in 2022 and 2023, and was beaten in the 2021 final by Ashleigh Barty.
“Hi Stuttgart. I’m very sad to say that I won’t be able to play the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix this year,” the reigning US Open champion wrote on her Instagram Story.
“I always love coming back to Stuttgart. The atmosphere, the fans, and the support I feel there are so special to me. And of course, I was really hoping to have another chance to fight for that Porsche.
“Unfortunately, I suffered an injury after Miami, and even though I tried everything to recover in time, I’m not ready to compete. I’m really sorry to miss this amazing tournament. Wishing everyone a great week in Stuttgart, and I hope to see you all again very soon.”
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Sabalenka was due to be the top seed at the WTA 500 event and she has been replaced in the main draw by Magdalena Frech.
The 27-year-old will drop 325 points following her runners-up finish last year, but she is assured of remaining top of the WTA Rankings as she has a lead of nearly 2,000 points following her double trophy run in Indian Wells and Miami.
Her next event is likely to be the Madrid Open.
World No 2 Elena Rybakina has replaced the Belarusian as the top seed at the tournament with Coco Gauff now headlining the bottom half of the draw with Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina third and fourth, respectively.
Other Players Who Won’t Feature
Sabalenka is the third player to withdraw from the clay-court tournament with world No 22 Anna Kalinskaya the first to pull out with Emma Navarro getting the nod as a replacement.
Alex Eala was next to earn a late entry as the rising Filipina star received the boost on the back of reigning Wimbledon champion Zhang Qinwen’s withdrawal.
The post Stuttgart Open withdrawal list: Aryna Sabalenka the latest to pull out of WTA 500 event appeared first on Tennis365.
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