The Wimbledon Open 2024 has barely started, but many title favorites have already been eliminated against their will.
Belarusian star Aryna Sabalenka, who came to the tournament as among the favorites to win the title, suddenly needed to withdraw before her opening match against Emina Bektas of the United States.
Sabalenka is the third seed in the Women's Singles, next to Iga Świątek and Coco Gauff.
Sportsbookies have her as the favorite to win the title.
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Anyone voting on her to rule Wimbledon should hope that they can get their money back, as Sabalenka confirmed she will not be able to play anymore due to a muscle injury in her shoulder.
"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."
Another Belarusian is out
Belarus is unlucky this season, as Victoria Azalenka is the second to be ruled out from the competition.
The former world No. 1 can only tweet "Ugh" with a crying emoji after the news.
She was scheduled to play Sloane Stephens in the first round, but a shoulder injury prevented her from continuing.
The highest she's reached in the tournament is the semifinals. Her fellow Belarusian Sabalenka also remains without a Wimbledon.
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