"Coco Gauff is a lucky girl as always" - Fans react as Aryna Sabalenka withdraws from Wimbledon 2024 to blow draw wide open

Aryna Sabalenka's withdrawal from the 2024 Wimbledon Championships has sparked discussion among fans online. The Belarusian's withdrawal comes as a result of a shoulder injury.

After a decent run on the European clay swing where she made it to the latter stages of every tournament she played, including two WTA 1000 finals in Madrid and Rome, Sabalenka, who failed to win any titles on clay, headed to Wimbledon for the grass swing.

The World No. 3 kicked off her grass campaign at the ecotrans Ladies Open where she started her run with a resounding 6-1, 6-4 win against Daria Kasatkina. However, she retired from her match against Anna Kalinskaya in the next round, who was 5-1 up against her.

During her pre-tournament press conference, Aryna Sabalenka had hinted that she wasn't at her 100% but was giving it her best to play the tournament. The 26-year-old subsequently withdrew from Wimbledon as reported by tennis journalist Jose Morgado on X (formerly Twitter) and later confirmed by Sabalenka on Instagram.

"Heartbroken to have to tell you all that I won't be able to play The Championships this year. I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not cooperating," Aryna Sabalenka wrote.

"I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would only make things much worse. This tournament means so much to me and I promise I'll be back stronger than ever next year," she added.

Fans on X reacted to this turn of events and discussed how the draw had opened up. One fan claimed Coco Gauff, who is on the same half Sabalenka was in, is lucky.

"Coco is a lucky girl as always."

Another fan mentioned that many other players would now fancy a run to the semifinals.

"This quarter especially open! Zheng, Sakkari, Kasatkina, Mirra Andreeva, Muchova..This is a wide open run to the semis!"

Here are a few other fan reactions:

"Sabalenka making other girls careers once again," a fan said.

"Oh no😢so Coco has highway to trophy," a fan wrote.

"Paolini has a decent shot at another decent run," another fan said.

"Brutal. Probably should have made the final in 2021 and 2023. Banned in 2022. Injured in 2024. She’s going to win Wimbledon eventually, but awful luck in London lately," a fan opined.

Sabalenka's best result at SW19 came in 2021 and 2023 when she reached the semifinals.

---

"I'm not going to play" - Aryna Sabalenka won't be participating in Wimbledon as well as the Paris Olympics

Aryna Sabalenka (Image source: GETTY)

During her pre-tournament press conference in Berlin, Aryna Sabalenka revealed she wouldn't be playing at the Paris Olympics as she wanted to prioritize her health to be ready for the packed schedule ahead. She emphasized that her health was the main factor in making this decision.

"Well, I’m not going to play Olympics because of all the rules from the WTA with mandatory tournaments. So, I have to sacrifice something and unfortunately, I have to sacrifice the Olympics at this stage of my career," Sabalenka said.

"And especially with all the struggles … I’ve been struggling last months; I feel like I need to take care of my health. But that’s so tricky. I mean, it’s too much for the scheduling, and it’s just too much. And I made the decision to take care of my health," she added.

Aryna Sabalenka made her Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she was ousted by Donna Vekic in the second round.