MY ACCOUNT
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has withdrawn from the French Open, with last year’s runner-up in Paris ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Russia’s world number 21 enjoyed her best grand slam run at Roland Garros 12 months ago, reaching the final before suffering defeat to Barbora Krejcikova.
The 30-year-old lost in the first round of the singles at the Internazionali d’Italia last week but won the women’s doubles alongside Veronika Kudermetova.
However, playing in four matches that went the distance made her realise she needed to take a break for her knee to recover.
Pavlyuchenkova posted on Instagram: “I’m very sad to say that I’m forced to withdraw from Roland Garros and the rest of the tournaments this year!
“I have been playing this in my head for the last week and it has been a really tough decision to make, as Roland Garros was always very special to me, especially after a dream run last year!
“But due to the pain for a long time, now the injury is limiting me physically and mentally to compete and practise fully.
“After rehabbing for months this year and only playing at three events, the last two tournaments showed me that the pain was still there and I wasn’t ready, so I have decided to take more time and come back stronger next year!”
