Former world number four Sam Stosur has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after she sustained stress fractures in her right hand at the French Open.
The Australian, who had previously withdrawn from the Aegon International in Eastbourne, casting doubts about her participation at the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, last missed Wimbledon back in 2002 when her ranking was too low to even enter qualifying. It will be the first time since the 2008 Australian Open that she has missed a Grand Slam tournament, snapping a run of 37 consecutive major appearances.
Stosur’s withdrawal sees Hsieh Su-Wei, previously the top seed in qualifying, automatically make the main draw.
Injury aggravated at the French Open
Though she was set to be unseeded at the All England Club, the Australian is arguably the first notable name to withdraw from the main draw with the injury she sustained at Roland Garros.
Stosur fell to eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round in Paris, despite being a set up, and later said that she felt some pain in her hand during her third round victory over qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The Australian had previously withdrawn from the Aegon International in Eastbourne, where she has been a regular participant in recent year, leading many to believe that she would pull out of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The Australian was unlikely to be a contender for the title at the tournament, having only made the third round at the tournament three times, though she will undoubtedly be disappointed to end a nine-year run of playing at every Grand Slam tournament. Wimbledon has also brought Stosur some of the best moments of her career, with three Doubles finals and two Mixed Doubles titles.
It will be interesting to see how long the former world number four is out. She is entered into the draw at the Citi Open in Washington, which takes place just two weeks after the end of Wimbledon, and is likely to be entered into tournaments such as the Rogers Cup and the Western and Southern Open, though may well be forced to withdraw; previous suggestions suggest that she should be back for the US Open, where she is a former champion, however.