Aryna Sabalenka, Wimbledon Contender, Pulls Out of Tournament with Shoulder Injury

Wimbledon favorite Aryna Sabalenka withdrew on Monday due to a shoulder injury. The two-time Australian Open champion, who was seeded third at the All England Club, was set to play Emina Bektas of the United States in the first round on Day 1 of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.



“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,” Sabalenka wrote on social media. "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 favored to win the women’s championship at Wimbledon according to sportsbooks.

A semifinalist at the All England Club the last two times she appeared there, Sabalenka was replaced in the draw on Monday by Erika Andreeva, who had lost in qualifying last week.

A little more than a week ago, Sabalenka stopped playing during the first set of her quarterfinal at the Berlin Ladies Open, citing pain in her shoulder.

Aryna Sabalenka expressed frustration over a muscle injury that forced her withdrawal from Wimbledon.

“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,” Sabalenka said. “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 and everything.”

Sabalenka had indicated on Saturday that there was a possibility she might have to withdraw from Wimbledon, saying, “But I still have my hopes. As someone who has been fighting through a lot of different pains in the past months, I still have my hopes.”

The 26-year-old from Belarus briefly held the No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings for the first time last season and is currently ranked No. 3, behind Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka’s game relies heavily on her power, particularly on her serve and big forehand, making her style effective on faster surfaces like the Australian Open’s hard courts — where she claimed titles in 2023 and earlier this year — and Wimbledon’s grass.

She reached the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and in 2021. Sabalenka was unable to compete in Wimbledon in 2022 due to the ban on all players from Russia and Belarus following the invasion of Ukraine.

Her withdrawal from the tournament on Monday, before even playing a match, joined her among several players who pulled out just as Wimbledon was commencing.

Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No. 22 seed, also withdrew due to an unspecified illness, shortly before she was scheduled to face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu at Centre Court.