Reigning Olympic silver medalist in women’s singles Marketa Vondrousova announced her decision to withdraw from Paris Olympics 2024 due to a hand injury.
`The 2023 Wimbledon champion and Czech Republic star took to Instagram to announce her decision on Monday. She also added that her focus is now on being fit to compete in US Open, which will start from August 26 this year.
“I am very sorry, but due to health reasons, I will not be participating in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
I hoped until the last moment that it could go at least in a double, but the hand problems do not let me go on the court.
I’m concentrating now to be okay at the US Open, I will keep my fingers crossed for all Czech representatives in France from a distance. Hopefully soon on the court,” Marketa said in her Instagram post.
As per WTA’s official website, Marketa had lost to Belinda Bencic in the gold medal match at Tokyo Olympics.
She was expected to play in the singles competition as well as the doubles event with Karolina Muchova as a part of Czech squad, which also includes the new Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, Linda Noskova and Katerina Siniakova. The Olympic tennis events will start on Saturday.
A hip injury suffered during the game against Anna Kalinskaya at the Ladies Open in Berlin disrupted the preparations of Marketa to defend her 2023 Wimbledon title, where she made history by becoming the first unseeded women’s player to walk away with the title in the Open Era.
During her return to Wimbledon this year, though, she was defeated in round one by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Marketa was also the second player in the Open Era to lose in the first round of Wimbledon after clinching the title, after Stefanie Graf’s shock exit in 1994. As a result, she dropped from number six to 18 in the WTA rankings issued last week after Wimbledon.
(WITH INPUTS FROM ANI)
