Former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has pulled out of next week’s Aegon Open in Nottingham after she failed to recover from a knee injury in time. The tournament, which serves as a tune-up for Wimbledon, will be held from June 6-12 at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
This comes on the back of her withdrawal from the Roland Garros 2016, where she gave up midway through her first-round battle against Karin Knapp following issues with her right knee.
According to Nottingham Post, the 29-year-old was looking forward to getting in shape ahead of the grass swing for which she even hit the practice courts for a couple of days, before she deemed herself unfit to participate at the tournament here.
“I am very disappointed to have to withdraw from Nottingham. Although I came here a few days ago to prepare and start training, my knee is unfortunately not yet completely healed and ready to play at 100 percent,” said Azarenka.
She added: “I had been very much looking forward to playing here in front of the fans in Nottingham at this great event. I have been made to feel so welcome by everyone here, and the facilities, including the grass courts, have been excellent, but hope to have a chance to come back next year instead.”
By the virtue of her withdrawal, Azarenka now joins American Madison Keys and Monica Niculescu of Romania among the other players to have pulled out of the tournament.
