Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Third seed Aryna Sabalenka withdrew from Wimbledon on Monday with a shoulder injury.

The two-time Australian Open champion was due to face Emina Bektas of the United States in the first round on Day 1 at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Sabalenka, a semi-finalist at the All England Club each of the last two times she has appeared there, was replaced in Monday’s draw by Erika Andreeva, who lost in qualifying last week.

A little more than a week ago, Sabalenka pulled out of the first set of the quarterfinals at the Berlin Ladies Open, citing shoulder pain.

She said she had a muscle injury that she called “very frustrating.”

“The most annoying thing is that they can do anything. I can practice; I can hit my groundstrokes. I struggle with serving. This is really annoying. You don’t feel like you’re hurt,” Sabalenka said. “If you give me some weights, I’ll go lift some weights. But if you tell me to serve, I will go through pain. I did an MRI, I did everything. I did a lot of rehab, a lot of treatment and everything.”

Sabalenka said on Saturday there was a chance she might need to pull out of Wimbledon: “But I still have my hopes up. As someone who has battled many different pains in recent months, I still have hope.”

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Howard Fendrich, Associated Press