By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS (AP) — Tokyo Olympics tennis silver medalist Marketa Vondrousova withdrew from the Paris Games on Monday, July 22, because of a hand injury.
Also pulling out of the tennis competition in Paris was Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who hurt his knee at Wimbledon this month.
Vondrousova, a 25-year-old from the Czech Republic, won Wimbledon last year despite being unseeded and was the runner-up at the French Open — played at Roland Garros, the same site being used for tennis matches at these Summer Games — in 2019.
She is coming off a first-round exit at Wimbledon this month, the first woman since 1994 to lose her opening match a year after winning the title at the All England Club.
Vondrousova posted on social media about pulling out of the Olympics, saying that her focus now is on being ready for the U.S. Open, which starts in late August.
She was the runner-up to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Vondrousova is currently ranked No. 18 in the world and would have been seeded No. 12 in Paris. She was replaced on the Czech team by Katerina Siniakova in singles and Linda Noskova in doubles; Noskova will pair with 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova.
Hurkacz, who would have been the No. 7 seed at the Olympics, injured his right knee during his second-round match at Wimbledon on July 4 while diving to hit a shot late in the fourth set against Arthur Fils.
Play was delayed for several minutes while a trainer examined and taped up Hurkacz’s knee; when action resumed, Hurkacz immediately tried to dive for another volley, then had to stop playing.
Hurkacz’s best Grand Slam showing was reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2021. His victory over Roger Federer in the quarterfinals turned out to be the last match of Federer’s career.
The draw for the Olympics tennis competition is scheduled for Thursday, and matches begin on Saturday.
