“It’s really disappointing. I had a bit of a rough start to the year and I feel like now my tennis has really picked up, and I’ve been playing really quite well these last few days,” she said. “I love the conditions here at the BNP Paribas Open and I love playing in front of this crowd, so to have to pull out without even being able to get on court is probably as bad as it gets.”
Stosur’s opponent, Angelique Kerber, automatically received a spot in the semifinals.
Only a couple hours later, defending champion and top-seeded Victoria Azarenka joined the likes of Stosur and said that she would be unable to continue in her quest to defend her 2012 title. Azarenka announced that she would be withdrawing from the tournament with a right ankle injury. She had been noticeably struggling in her last few matches, but was somehow able to get through each one. It wasn’t until she had an MRI done yesterday that she realized the problem was much worse than she thought.
“I tested it out as much as possible. I tried absolutely everything I could do, but I have been advised by the doctor, by my own team, that it’s just a very, very high risk already,” she stated. “The doctor said it might heal quick – the pain might go down quickly because of the inflammation going down, but the healing process is a little bit unknown…it’s a little bit frustrating. We’ll see how it goes. Take it day by day.”
Azarenka said that as of right now, she is still planning on playing Miami, but will just have to see how the healing progresses in the next few days. In the meantime, her opponent Caroline Wozniacki will face the other recipient of a walkover, Angelique Kerber, in the semifinals tomorrow.
Topics: Angelique Kerber, BNP Paribas Open, Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur, Sports, Tennis News, Victoria Azarenka