Barbora Krejcikova after winning the French Open 2021 (Credits: Roland Garros Twitter)
World No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova has withdrawn from the tournament due to an injured elbow
Barbora Krejcikova’s withdrawal means the Indian Wells event will now be without the top two WTA ranked players in the world. Ashleigh Barty, the current World No. 1 has also withdrawn from the tournament. Barty is set to miss both the Indian Wells and Miami Open events which provided a great opportunity for Krejcikova to get closer to the world number one ranking. The Indian Wells Masters, an ATP 1000 is event is already underway and is scheduled for 7-20 March.
Barbora Krejcikova has had a hectic start to the year. The Czech has already played 4 events since the start of the season. She started the year with a loss in the singles final at the Sydney International. She put up a good performance in the Australian but lost the quarter-final against Maddison Keys. The Czech then had two disappointing Rounds of 16 exits from the following two events – the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Open.
In her public statement, Krejcikova wrote, “I am extremely disappointed and sad to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open. I was looking forward to playing in Indian Wells very much but unfortunately I won’t be able to do so this year. I have had a pain on my arm on and off since Doha which today intensified and together with my team I had to take a tough decision to withdraw.” She further added, “I will focus on getting the right treatment as soon as possible and I hope I can be back on the court soonest.”
The ATP-1000 event is set to lose a lot of top stars due to injury in both the men’s and women’s draw. Roger Federer , Dominic Thiem are certainly out while Novak Djokovic’s participation is highly uncertain due to his vaccination status. In the Women’s draw, Barbora Krejcikova becomes the latest entrant to the list of stars missing due to injury. Besides Barty and Krejcikova, home favourite Danielle Collins will also be missing the tournament.
Meanwhile, on the brighter side, Naomi Osaka will be in action at the event. The Japanese star is all set to make a special return to the tournament where she won her maiden title. The tournament organizing committee have announced that the 2018 Champion has been given a Wild Card entry. Osaka, a grand slam Champion is currently ranked no. 78 in the world after taking a break from competitive tennis in 2021 citing mental health issues. Osaka is delighted to make a return to this event. “To return to the Indian Wells where I won my first big title, it’s special. It was special in 2018 and it will be special again this March”, she said.
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