New York-Reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka returned to the United States semi-finals without hitting a bullet on Tuesday evening because the woman she was supposed to face in the quarterfinals, Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, withdrew her match with a injured knee.
“I did my best to take the court today, but during the warm -up, I still felt my knee, and after the consultation with the tournament doctor, I decided not to risk worsening the injury,” said Vondrousova, a 26 -year -old left -hander from the Czech Republic, in a statement published by the United States Tennis Association. “I appreciate all the support of this tournament and I apologize to the fans who were looking forward to the match.”
A representative of Vondrousova told Mary Joe Fernandez d’Espn that the injury had occurred before her three sets victory during the Wimbledon champion, Elena Ryakina, and that Vondrousova played him in the fourth round match on Sunday evening.
According to the USTA, Vondrousova is the first woman to give her opponent a Walkover – the term for when a tennis player withdraws from a match before he started – at the US Open in the quarter -finals or later since 1988, when Steffi Graf advanced in the final after Chris Evert did not play their semi -final.
Sabalenka will now meet Jessica Pegula n ° 4 Thursday in the semi-finals. It is a revenge match of the league match last year in Flushing Meadows, which Sabalenka won in straight sets.
This is the first time that Sabalenka has moved into a large via Walkover or his retirement.
“Sorry for Marketa after all she lived,” Sabalenka wrote on social networks. “She played incredible tennis and I know how bad it takes for her.”
Sabalenka told Kris Budden of ESPN that she was “shocked” by the news after seeing Vondrousova warm up and that she wished Vondrousova a quick recovery in the locker room.
Vondrousova was as high as No. 6 in the WTA ranking, but a series of injuries over the years has prevented it from expanding for stretching at the same time. This included operations on his wrist in 2022 and on his shoulder last year.
She entered the 60th row of the United States and seedless.
“This place is so special for me – exactly a year ago, I was in surgery, I don’t even know if I would never come back,” wrote Vondrousova in an Instagram story. “Being back here, competing again and enjoying such beautiful matches has meant more than words cannot say.”
The last two quarter -female quarter -final games are scheduled for Wednesday: n ° 2 IGA Swiatek against n ° 8 Amanda Anisimova – It is a revenge of the Wimbledon final of last month, which won Swiatek 6-0, 6-0 – and n ° 11 KAROLINA MUCHOVA against n ° 23 NAOMI OSAKA.
It will be the first quarter -final of Osaka’s Grand Chelem since the Australian Open 2021, where she ended up claiming her fourth major trophy.
The ESPN research and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
