The 2025 Australian Open gets underway Sunday from Melbourne. One of the storylines is who will not be competing on the women’s side for the first grand slam event of the year. Those players who have withdrawn from the event already have been Barbora Krejcikova of Brno, Czech Republic, Karolina Pliskova of Louny, Czech Republic, Caroline Wozniacki of Odense, Denmark, and Simona Halep of Bucharest, Romania.
Krejcikova, Wozniacki and Halep are all grand slam singles champions. Krejcikova won the 2021 French Open and Wimbledon in 2024. Wozniacki won the Australian Open in 2018. Halep won the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019. Pliskova is a grand slam finalist, as she reached the United States Open final in 2016 and the Wimbledon final in 2021. Ironically, when Wozniacki won her only grand slam title in Melbourne seven years ago, she beat Halep in the final, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
The reason for Wozniacki’s withdrawal is unspecified. Pliskova is recovering from ankle surgery according to Adam Addicott of ubitennis.net, Halep is withdrawing due to shoulder and knee pain according to the Associated Press, and Krejcikova is withdrawing from the Australian Open due to a back injury according to inshorts.com.
The women’s draw has been released and there are two very juicy first round matches involving grand slam champions. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, the three-time grand slam champion (2023 and 2024 Australian Open and 2024 United States Open) will face American Sloane Stephens, the 2017 United States Open champion. In an all-American battle, 2023 United States Open champion Coco Gauff is facing 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
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