New York (USA) – Rated for US Open quarter-final singles, Marketa Vondrousova has withdrawn from doubles competition. The Czech injured her left elbow and decided to reserve for the individual dispute. The withdrawal was all the more felt as the tennis player did not want to harm her partner, the Czech Barbora Strycova, who is playing her last professional tournament at the age of 37.

“I felt a pain in my arm and we decided not to play today. It’s a bit sad because it’s Barbora’s last tournament, so it was a tough decision and we took it. taken together. You have to put your health first,” Vondrousova said. Monday’s interview and press conference.

Marketa Vondrousova cries, with ice cream on her elbow, hugged by her doubles partner Strycova during her farewell tournament.

Marketa may consider retiring to focus on singles as she is not in top form, which could end Barbora’s career.pic.twitter.com/1w7CBhPsS1

— Relevant Tennis (@RelevantTennis) September 4, 2023

“It was sad. I cried a bit when I told Barbora. I mean, I’ve had so many injuries that I don’t want to take any chances. He’s a great person. I told him said, ‘But this is your last tournament.’ I don’t want to do that.’ , but she said, “It’s okay. You have to play 100% or you don’t play.”

Strycova and Vondrousova have won two matches at this US Open. They overtook Slovakian Tereza Mihalikova and Chinese Yifan Xu at the start by 6/4 and 6/1. Then they won a Czech duel against the leaders of the classification Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova by 6/2 and 6/3. With the withdrawal in the round of 16, the Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and the New Zealander Erin Routliffe advance directly to the quarter-finals.

Vondrousova believes the heavier ball adopted this year by the US Open for the women’s tournament could be a contributing factor in the injury. “It’s because of the ball. It’s very heavy and the season is long so you have to fight against that. We’ll see. I have a day off tomorrow so it will help. We’ll see what happens.”

The defending Wimbledon champion beat 59th-ranked American Peyton Stearns 6/7 (3-7), 6/3, 6/2 on Monday. She faces host Madison Keys in the quarterfinals and hopes to be in better physical condition. “I’m very happy with the win today. It was a tough game. She started really well, moving the ball a lot and making me run a lot. I had to fight until the end. Maddie is playing great tennis. We trained together before the tournament. I expect another tough match and I will do my best.”

Strycova will still play mixed doubles at the US Open
Out of contention for the women’s doubles title, Strycova is still in mixed doubles, alongside Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez. The duo are in the quarter-finals and face Japanese Ena Shibahara and Croatian Mate Pavic. In July, the Czech wins doubles title at Wimbledonalongside Su-Wei Hsieh and finished his singles career at WTA Prague.