Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa both withdraw from the same WTA tournament in build up to US Open

Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa have already made a big decision coming up to this year’s US Open.

Sabalenka is one of the US Open favourites this year, as the world number one and defending champion.

However, she is still yet to win a Grand Slam title this year, with Sabalenka losing to Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon semifinals most recently.

Despite reaching the Australian Open semifinals to begin her year, Paula Badosa has once again been disrupted by persistent injuries.

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Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa withdraw from Canadian Open

The Canadian Open is one of two WTA 1000 tournaments in the North American hard court swing, giving players an opportunity to compete against the top players ahead of the US Open.

However, both of the best friend duo of Sabalenka and Badosa have now announced their withdrawals from the tournament for differing reasons.

Sabalenka, who played more tennis than any other WTA player at Wimbledon this year, has cited fatigue as her reason for withdrawing from the Canadian Open.

This will be the first time that Sabalenka has missed the Canadian Open since her ranking made her eligible to play this tournament.

In a statement to the tournament, Sabalenka claimed that it was in her ‘best interest’ to withdraw.

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“I’m looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I’ve decided it’s in my best interest to skip Montreal,” said Sabalenka.

“I’ll miss my amazing Canadian fans, but I’m looking forward to seeing you all next year. Thank you for your understanding and support it means the world to me!”

While in Badosa’s case, it is once again an injury that has forced her to pull out of another tournament.

In a recent Instagram post, Badosa revealed that she had torn her psoas (muscle in the lower back) and would have to miss a ‘few weeks’ of competition.

This latest setback could be extremely damaging to Badosa, as she has 1385 ranking points to defend over the North American hard court swing.

As a result of Sabalenka and Badosa’s withdrawals, Caty McNally and Moyuka Uchijima will now enter the main draw of the Canadian Open.

These are not the only big names withdrawing from the upcoming WTA 1000 tournament, as a three-time major finalist has also pulled out of the Canadian Open.

Former WTA champions of the Canadian Open

Each year, the WTA and the ATP alternate between Toronto and Montreal to host their respective Canadian Open tournaments.

This year the WTA will be in Montreal, where Jessica Pegula last won the title after beating Liudmila Samsonova in the final.

Pegula then went on to retain her Canadian Open crown in Toronto last year after beating Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova.

Year Champion Runner-up 2014 Agnieszka Radwanska Venus Williams 2015 Belinda Bencic Simona Halep 2016 Simona Halep Madison Keys 2017 Elina Svitolina Caroline Wozniacki 2018 Simona Halep (2) Sloane Stephens 2019 Bianca Andreescu Serena Williams 2021 Camila Giorgi Karolina Pliskova 2022 Simona Halep (3) Beatriz Haddad Maia 2023 Jessica Pegula Liudmila Samsonova 2024 Jessica Pegula (2) Amanda Anisimova

It is currently unclear if there will be any more withdrawals from this year’s Canadian Open, with Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Pegula currently remaining as the top three seeds.

What is confirmed is that the Canadian Open will get underway on Sunday, July 27.

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