France’s Kristina Mladenovic has once again suffered a blow after pulling out of a duo of WTA tournaments due to a knee injury.
The French world No.15 has suffered a sharp dip in form since the Wimbledon Championships. On Saturday she crashed out in the first round of the Wuhan Open. It was the seventh consecutive tournament where Mladenovic has failed to win her first match. In a recent interview with WTA Insider, she attributed some of her lacklustre form to an ongoing knee injury that she suffered at SW19.
“It’s obviously a tough period for me. I was playing extremely well, I was playing my tennis until my last match at Wimbledon. I slid on the grass, fell down, and stretched the right ligament in my knee. I was off for 10 to 15 days. To come back was really difficult. I lost a little bit of my physical shape and the momentum.” She said last week.
Mladenovic’s ongoing battle with her knee has now forced her to withdraw from the doubles competition in this week’s China Open as well as the upcoming Hong Kong Open. In a statement uploaded to her Twitter account, the 24-year-old said her withdrawal was due to a ‘continuous issue,’ without elaborating further.
“Due to a continuous issue with my knee since Wimbledon, I am sad to announce that I need to pull from doubles in Beijing and Hong Kong next week.” She wrote. “I am very sorry and sad for the fans that were looking forward seeing me play there, but I will do everything I can come back strong again.”
The announcement has put the rest of Mladenovic’s season in jeopardy. After the China Open, there is only a month left of WTA competitions before the calendar comes to an end.
During the first half of this season, Mladenovic won her maiden tour title in St. Petersburg, Russia. In June she rose to a ranking high of 12th in the world, but has since slipped down to 15th.
