Injury Withdrawals Increasing in Australia

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 2nd January 2014

Injury Withdrawals Increasing in Australia

epa03523587 Ashleigh Barty of Australia celabrates her win against Francessca Schiavone of Italy (not pictured) in their singles match during the Hopman Cup tennis tournament between Australia and Italy in Perth, Australia, 03 January 2012 EPA/TONY MCDONOUGH |

A day into the new year injuries were already starting to mount in tennis, with two women’s pull outs at the Brisbane International and two more on the men’s side of various pre-Australian Open tournaments.

Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki was unable to play her second-round match against Swiss Stephanie Voegele, with the German suffering with a stomach virus. That pull-out came after Aussie teenager Ash Barty was forced to withdraw prior to a face-off with third seed Maria Sharapova.

Number 190 Barty said that wear and tear from a run of demanding matches had torn her left adductor muscle, forcing her out of Brisbane as well as Hobart next week. Sharapova, seeded third, moved ahead unchallenged into the quarter-finals in her Brisbane debut as she plays for the first time since August after healing a shoulder injury.

“It’s been great to play at home in Brisbane and it’s disappointing,” said Barty. “But I’ve got to do what’s right for my body. Sometimes these are really hard decisions to make but that’s what I have to do,

“The injury has just come about from overload, I’ve played four really tough singles matches in the past week so now it’s just about getting my body right. I’ve got enough time to be fit for the Australian Open, it’s just a matter of managing the injury and hopefully I’ll be back on court soon.”

In men’s play, next week’s Sydney event has announced the pull-out of Spaniard Nicolas Almagro due to a shoulder injury.

And the exhibition next week in Adelaide will be missing Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who was also unable to make his 2014 start in Brisbane due to a shoulder injury which bothered him from late last season. The veteran was replaced in the field at the World Tennis Challenge by Croatian Ivan Dodig.

The three-day hybrid event which features current players and legends, will feature Mats Wilander, Martina Navratilova, Pat Cash, Nicole Bradtke, Henri Leconte and Tracy Austin.

“We feel for Melzer,” said event co-boss Mark Woodforde. “To have an injury this close to a Grand Slam is a blow and he was certainly looking at the World Tennis Challenge being as part of his Australian Open preparation.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Ash Barty, Australian Open, Brisbane, Henri Leconte, Ivan Dodig, Jurgen Melzer, Maria Sharapova, Martina Navratilova, Mats Wilander, Nicolas Almagro, Nicole Bradtke, Pat Cash, Sabine Lisicki, Stephanie Voegele, Tennis, Tennis News, Tracy Austin, World Tennis Challenge