Victoria Azarenka started the Canadian Open with a decisive win over Magda Linette. Her serve was firing on all cylinders and the groundstrokes cleared her opponent with ease. Linette did very little wrong, but Azarenka simply dominated throughout the match. She looked to be in brilliant touch, and her playing level seems promising enough to foreshadow a deep run. However, as they say, nothing is guaranteed in sports.

The unforeseen happened with the former World No. 1 as well. Players spend a good percentage of their time-off during the tournaments on practice courts. As Azarenka stepped on the practice court to go through the pre-match drills, her title hopes crumbled as shadows of past injuries returned to haunt her.

Victoria Azarenka updates on her injury as she withdraws from Montreal

Azarenka had recently recovered from a lingering injury. One thing about lingering injuries is that they do not go away easily, especially for older athletes. The Belarusian was under the impression that her injury was healed, but that was not exactly the case. The problems reappeared in her last practice session and gave her no choice but to say goodbye to her title hopes.

Azarenka took to her Twitter to announce the news. She said, “Dear fans, I am sorry to say, but I have unfortunate news that during my warm up for tonight’s match, I re-injured a lingering injury that I thought was resolved and need to withdraw from the match. Wishing the event all the best success and good luck to Sloane for the rest of the tournament. I love Montreal and I look forward to coming back!”

The Belarusian was set to take on Sloane Stephens in the round of 32 but now the American will receive a walkover. It also turns out to be a massive blow for the tournament as another big name withdraws from the competition.

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Player injuries continue to hurt the organizers

Azarenka was not the only WTA player to pull out of Montreal. Just a few hours before her news update, Madison Keys had to bid farewell to her title run as well. Her hip issues did not allow her to compete further, despite registering an emphatic win over Venus Williams in the first round. The organizers are certainly going to suffer from the withdrawals as well, since both Keys and Azarenka we key players in the tournament.

However, for both these players, another concern looms large. With the US Open less than three weeks away, there remains very little time to heal and practice enough to be in top form for the year-ending Grand Slam. Do you think Azarenka and Keys’s injuries might hurt their chances at the US Open? Let us know in the comments.

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