WIMBLEDON, England — Wimbledon’s opening day saw drama early when third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury ahead of her first-round match Monday.
Sabalenka went through a brief warm-up Monday before deciding to withdraw. The 26-year-old arrived at the All-England Club nursing an injury to the teres major muscle in her shoulder, which had been preventing her from deploying her greatest weapon — her serve. At full health, Sabalenka has one of the most powerful serves in the women’s game.
“The most annoying thing is that I can do anything. I can practice, I can hit my groundstrokes. I’m struggling with serving,” Sabalenka said in a pretournament news conference Saturday. “That’s really annoying. You don’t feel like you’re injured. If you give me some weights, I’m going to go lift some weights. But if you tell me to serve, I’m going to go through pain.”
Injuries are a major topic of discussion at Wimbledon this year, with two-time champion Andy Murray expected to make a decision later Monday about competing in the singles draw. The 37-year-old had surgery June 22 to remove a cyst on his back that was compressing nerves affecting sensation in his right leg. He said Sunday he’s improving every day but still doesn’t have all the feeling back in that limb.
He is scheduled to play Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in the first round Tuesday.
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic also begins his Wimbledon on Tuesday against a Czech man, Vit Kopriva, and says he feels confident in his ability to compete despite having surgery June 5 to repair the torn medial meniscus in his right knee.