Another top 100 player withdraws from AO

Nadia Podoroska is the latest player to withdraw from next month’s Australian Open because of injury.

The Argentine, who was a French Open semi-finalist in 2020, has suffered multiple injuries – hip, hamstring, and back – in the past year and seen her ranking slip from No.36 to 84.

“I am sorry to announce my withdrawal from Australian Open due to the physical problems that I struggled with throughout this last season,” Podoroska wrote on Twitter.

“Although in this time I learned to coexist and compete with pain, the recovery process to heal my body definitely takes more time.

“That is why, together with my Tennis Positivo team, we decided not to compete again until March 2022.

“At the moment I am leaving for Alicante (in Spain), where I will continue with my rehabilitation to be 100 per cent again when the time comes to return to the (court).

“I feel fine, accompanied by the people I love and by a team of professionals who seek the best for my career and my health.”

Podoroska’s withdrawal takes the number of top-100 players out of the women’s draw to six, including Karolina Pliskova, Jennifer Brady, Karolina Muchova, Serena Williams and Bianca Andreescu.