Ons Jabeur withdraws from Madrid Open due to calf injury; Tunisian won the title last year to become first African winner of WTA 1000 event; Great Britain's Emma Raducanu will play in Madrid as she looks to bounce back from straight-sets loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart last week
Tuesday 25 April 2023 08:52, UK
Defending champion Ons Jabeur has withdrawn from this week's Madrid Open due to a calf injury.
The Tunisian retired three games into Saturday's Porsche Tennis Open semi-final against Iga Swiatek in Stuttgart.
Jabeur, 28, said on Instagram: "Further to many medical exams done, it shows that I have a small tear in my calf and I will need more time to recover.
"I'm sad to announce that I won't be able to compete and defend my title this year at the Madrid Open. I would like to wish everyone and the tournament a great event."
Jabeur - who beat Jessica Pegula 7-5 0-6 6-2 in the 2022 Madrid Open final to become the first African to win a WTA 1000 event - was due to play either Romania's Ana Bogdan or Hungary's Anna Bondar in the second round at this year's event.
Great Britain's Emma Raducanu will be in action at the Madrid Open, where she will be looking to bounce back from a straight-sets defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in the last 32 of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova announced her withdrawal from the Madrid Open on Monday due to a knee injury, with the Czech hopeful that she will recover in time for the Italian Open in Rome from May 9-20.
Pliskoka suffered her injury during a quarter-final defeat to world No 1 Swiatek in Stuttgart.
