Wimbledon 2024 has begun! Finally, on July 1, the first round matches were played on the courts of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Only now the tournament started with some unpleasant news: eight players refused to play in London during the day, four each in the men’s and women’s singles.
The first withdrawal came a day earlier, on June 30. World number 43 Elisabetta Cocciaretto announced on social media that she had to withdraw from the fight in London. The cause was a virus.
“Retiring from Wimbledon is one of the most difficult decisions a player can make, but health comes first. London, see you next year,” wrote the Italian tennis player.
Elisabetta was replaced in the main draw by lucky loser Olga Danilovich. However, the Serbian tennis player had already been defeated by qualifier Anka-Alexia Todoni in the first round.
Then, on the morning of July 1, world number 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova announced her withdrawal from Wimbledon. It is reported that illness was to blame. The Russian had a great grass-court season last year, winning the title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, reaching the semi-finals in Berlin and reaching the fourth round in London, but Ekaterina was unable to defend her points and confirm her previous results.
Alexandrova was replaced at the bottom by lucky loser, WTA number 98 Renata Sarazua. The Mexican played against the court-keeper Emma Raducanu and lost to the British 6:7, 3:6.
Former world number one and two-time TBS grass-court semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka also refused to fight at Wimbledon on the first day of play. The world number 16 is reported to have suffered a shoulder injury before the start of the competition.
The Belarusian tennis player was supposed to play American Sloane Stephens in the first round of Wimbledon, but in this match Victoria was replaced by Elsa Jacquemot. In just over an hour, the 21-year-old Frenchwoman lost to the quarter-finalist of the 2013 grass-court major.
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“A potential champion has emerged.” Aryna Sabalenka to replace Andreeva in Wimbledon draw
The most resounding thing on July 1 was the elimination of the world’s third-ranked player, Aryna Sabalenka. Even before the start of the competition, she had indicated that she might miss Wimbledon for health reasons, but for a long time she did not give a precise decision.
According to Sabalenka, the last month has been difficult for her due to a rare shoulder injury. Her body was not 100% ready to perform in London and the pain in her arm prevented her from performing. On the first day of play, Arina was supposed to meet American Emina Bektas, but she refused to participate and commented on this decision on social media.
“I am heartbroken that I will not be able to play at Wimbledon this year. I did everything I could to prepare for the competition but unfortunately my shoulder is not holding up. I did my best in practice today but the team said that my performance would only make things worse. This tournament means a lot to me and I promise to come back stronger than ever next year,” wrote the world number three.
After Sabalenka’s refusal, Russian Erika Andreeva got her chance. For the 20-year-old tennis player, the match against Bektas was her debut at Wimbledon. Unlike other lucky losers, Erica took the opportunity to continue the fight in London, beat her American rival in three sets and claimed her first victory in the main draw of the Grand Slam. In the second round, Andreeva Sr. will fight Donna Vekic.
In the men’s draw, there were also four withdrawals on the first day of play: Pablo Carreno Busta (799), Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina (36), Dominik Köpfer (66) and Corentin Moutet (61) withdrew from Wimbledon. They were replaced at the bottom by the losers Daniel-Elai Galan, Luca Van Assche, Giovanni Mpetchi Perrikar and James Duckworth. The first two faced each other in the first circle, where they lost to Tallon Grikspor and Fabio Fognini respectively.
First round matches at Wimbledon will continue on Tuesday, July 2. If only there weren’t as many withdrawals as there were on the opening day of play. And don’t forget to follow all the events from London on the Championship!
