Devastating scenes in Adelaide as ex-Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova retires in tears days ahead of Australian Open 2025

Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova's return in 2025 hasn't gone according to plan. She had to retire midway through her second-round match against Diana Shnaider at the Adelaide International on Wednesday, January 8.

A top 10-level player at her best, the Czech has struggled to remain consistently healthy, dealing with injuries in the last two years. Vondrousova managed to play only 29 matches in 2022, followed by a relatively healthy 2023 where she played 59 matches. However, last year was another season of injuries as she managed only 27 matches in total.

While she had hoped to leave those things behind in 2024, in only her second match of this year, Vondrousova was forced to retire against Diana Shnaider in the second round of the Adelaide event. She had returned to the court with a win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Despite playing well and winning the opening set 6-4, Vondrousova called for the physio at 1-1 in the second set, and after consulting the physio, she opted to retire from the match. During the talk with the physio, cameras picked up Vondrousova crying, which was confirmed by tennis insider Jose Morgado.

This event was the first time Marketa Vondrousova played since Wimbledon last year, where she was the defending champion. All of the previous months were spent trying to get healthy and back to playing tennis, but the former World No. 6 suffered yet another setback.

There is no information on what type of injury it is and whether her Australian Open participation is in doubt, as Marketa Vondrousova has yet to comment on her injury that led to her mid-match retirement.

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Adelaide injury one of many setbacks for Marketa Vondrousova

As unfortunate as it might be, her latest injury is nothing new for Vondrousova, who has endured quite a few injuries so far in her career. She won her maiden trophy at the age of 17, and not long after that, suffered an elbow injury that kept her away from the sport.

Vondrousova then suffered wrist issues on and off for a couple of years, including last year, which have kept her away from the courts since Wimbledon 2024, which was a stark contrast to her 2023 campaign as she lost out to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets.

While never considered a hugely impressive player on grass with her win percentage on the surface hovering around 54%, Marketa Vondrousova produced a great effort to go all the way in the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated notable opponents including Jessica Pegula, Donna Vekic, and Elina Svitolina, before beating a really strong grass player, Ons Jabeur, in the final.

While her 2024 Wimbledon campaign can be attributed to her fitness concerns, fans will be hoping that the Czech's injury at the Adelaide International won't hinder her chances of playing more tennis this season.