Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to miss rest of the season due to injury

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics

World No. 21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova took to social media on Tuesday to announce her injury-induced sabbatical, with the Russian expected to skip the rest of the season.

Pavlyuchenkova complained of a left knee injury following her third-round loss at the 2022 Australian Open. She subsequently withdrew from her home tournament in St. Petersburg and the WTA 1000 events in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami.

Pavlyuchenkova returned to action three months later for the claycourt season, losing to unseeded Sara Sorribes Tormo in the opening round in Madrid. She went on to lose in the first round of the Italian Open to Leylah Fernandez, but won her sixth WTA title in doubles alongside compatriot Veronika Kudermetova.

In a post on Instagram, the 30-year-old revealed that she deliberated upon the decision over the past week. She further expressed her disappointment at having to withdraw from the upcoming French Open.

Pavlyuchenkova made her maiden Grand Slam final in Paris last year, losing to Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova in three sets.

"I’m very sad to say that I’m forced to withdraw from Roland Garros and the rest of the tournaments this year!," Pavlyuchenkova wrote on Instagram. "I have been playing this in my head for the last week and it has been a really tough decision to make, as Roland Garros was always very special to me , especially after a dream run last year!"

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova explained that she felt the pain recur in her last two tournaments despite undergoing months of rehabilitation and therapy earlier this year. She thus concluded on taking an extended break from the sport to reclaim complete fitness.

"But due to the pain for a long time, now the injury is limiting me physically and mentally to compete and practice fully. After rehabbing for months this year and only played at 3 events, the last two tournaments showed me that the pain was still there and I wasn’t ready. I have decided to take more time and come back stronger next year! Thanks for the support. Until next year," Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova wrote on Instagram.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (L) and Barbora Krejcikova at the 2021 French Open
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (L) and Barbora Krejcikova at the 2021 French Open

Following her run to the final at the French Open last year, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova rose to a career-high ranking of No. 11 in the world. She backed up that feat by winning the gold medal in mixed doubles at the Tokyo Olympics alongside Andrey Rublev.

Qualifying action underway at the 2022 Roland Garros

The qualifying rounds at the second Grand Slam of the year kickstarted on Monday with a bunch of shock upsets and victories. Feliciano Lopez's hopes of making 80 consecutive main draw appearances at the Majors were dashed by a straight-sets loss to Gian Moroni.

16-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, meanwhile, notched a comfortable first-round win and continues her bid to make the main draw of a Major for the first time.

The 2022 Roland Garros main draw will be released on Thursday and will be headlined by top seeds Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic. Some notable absentees from the tournament will be Matteo Berrettini, Serena Williams, Gael Monfils, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Elina Svitolina and Marketa Vondrousova among others


Also Check Out :- French Open 2022 Schedule