Elena Rybakina’s Wimbledon preparations have taken a hit as she withdrew from Eastbourne International because of a viral infection. The defending Wimbledon champion was the tournament’s top seed and was set to face Wang Xiyu on Monday. She will not play and will instead focus on recovering ahead of Wimbledon, which begins on July 3.
Due to a viral illness, Rybakina also withdrew from her third-round game at the French Open in early June.
She stated in Eastbourne that she had still not fully recovered physically due to the effects of the virus.
“At the French Open after I withdrew I went back to the hotel and it was even worse so I had to stay in Paris for a few days not leaving the room,” she said. “I started my preparation week after just slowly starting and it was tough since it was a virus. She added, “So I still think that I’m not 100 per cent physically where I want to be but slowly it’s getting better and hopefully I can get some more matches here and feel more comfortable at Wimbledon.”
Rybakina was defeated in the second round by Donna Vekic last week in Berlin.
She won her first Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon a year ago and reached the Australian Open final earlier this year when she was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka.