EMMA RADUCANU GIVEN HUGE WIMBLEDON CHANCE AS BIG NAME PULLS OUT OF TOURNAMENT

Emma Raducanu's Wimbledon hopes have received a huge boost after two-time Grand Slam winner and No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka became the second big player to pull out of the competition. Raducanu secured safe passage through to round two with a straight sets victory over Renata Zarazua on Monday evening.

But, with SW19 barely even a day old, already two huge names have been forced to withdraw from the event. Sabalenka follows her Belarusian compatriot Victoria Azarenka out of the competition after she suffered a shoulder injury. She was set to take on Emina Bektas on Court No.1 but had to be replaced in the draw by Erika Andreeva.

The 26-year-old first picked up her shoulder injury at last month's Berlin Open and has not been able to recover in time. Meanwhile, organisers confirmed Azarenka was replaced by France's Elsa Jacquemot after suffering a shoulder injury of her own.

Sabalenka confirmed the news in an emotional post on social media. She said: "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 co-operating. This tournament means so much to me and I promise I'll be back stronger than ever next year.

"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."

Her decision is not too surprising, as she cited the pain in her shoulder at the Berlin Ladies Open. Sabalenka described the discomfort she was in as a result of the injury. She said: "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 and everything."

While tennis fans will be with their respective late exits, the draw has worked out well for Raducanu. Azarenka and Sabalenka were both on her side of the draw and could have been potential tough opponents for the Brit.

While onesection has the likes of World No.1 Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Jelena Ostapenko and many more, Raducanu's side looks considerably more favourable. Coco Gauff appears to be the most formidable threat on Raducanu's side, having soared up to No.2 in the world.

However, there's still a long way to go for the 2021 US Open winner, who won't be allowing herself to think about a path to the final just yet. Speaking after her comfortable victory over Zarazua, Raducanu said:"I was for sure nervous.

"I think everyone could see that in my tennis. Watching the football last night it was like winning ugly. It all counts. It was an incredibly difficult match. I've barely if ever played a defender who's landed the ball on the baseline or just kept getting it back."

2024-07-02T05:01:06Z dg43tfdfdgfd