Marketa Vondrousova, the silver medalist in tennis at the Tokyo Olympics, has withdrawn from the Olympic Games in Paris due to a hand injury. Alongside her, Polish player Hubert Hurkacz also announced his exit from the Paris tennis tournament, having suffered a knee injury at Wimbledon earlier this month.
The 25-year-old Czech athlete made headlines last year by winning Wimbledon despite being unseeded, and she was also a finalist at the French Open held at Roland Garros, the same venue for the upcoming Olympic tournament this summer. Unfortunately, Vondrousova faced an early exit in the first round of Wimbledon this year, making her the first woman since 1994 to lose her opening match a year after winning the prestigious title at the All England Club.
In a post on social media, Vondrousova expressed her disappointment about missing the Olympics, explaining that her focus is now on being ready for the US Open, which begins in late August. Three years ago, she lost the Olympic final to Swiss player Belinda Bencic.
Currently ranked 18th in the world, Vondrousova would have been the 12th seed in Paris. She has been replaced in the singles competition by Katerina Siniakova, while Linda Noskova will compete in doubles alongside 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova.
On the other hand, Hubert Hurkacz, who would have been the 7th seed at the Olympics, sustained a right knee injury during his second-round match at Wimbledon on July 4. He was injured while attempting to return a ball in the fourth set against Arthur Fils. The match was paused for several minutes as medical staff attended to Hurkacz’s knee, and upon resuming, he attempted to play on but had to retire.
Hurkacz’s best result in a Grand Slam event came in 2021 when he reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. Notably, his victory against Roger Federer in the quarterfinals marked the final match of the Swiss tennis legend’s career.
The draw for the Olympic tennis competition is set to take place on Thursday, with matches starting on Saturday.
For further information, you can visit the official Olympics website here.
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