The Australian Open have confirmed that reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova has pulled out of the Grand Slam on the eve of the tournament.
The official tournament list stated that just before the draw was made for qualifying, Krejcikova had withdrawn and will be replaced by Rebecca Marino in the main draw.
Krejcikova has released a statement explaining that a back injury is keeping her out of action, having taken to social media to explain the disappointing news to her fans.
She wrote: “Hi everyone, I wanted to share a quick update regarding my withdrawal from the Australian Open. Unfortunately, my back injury, which troubled me at the end of last season, is still not fully healed.
“It’s really disappointing because I love playing in Melbourne and have such great memories from reaching the quarterfinals last year. Thanks to all of you for your support. I’m working hard to get back to full health, and I can’t wait to see you on the court soon!”
She is not the only big name in Melbourne that will be missing however, as former Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki and two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova have also pulled out prior to qualifying.
Krejcikova did not sign up for any of the warm-up events in Australia despite being named the 10th seed in the women’s singles draw.
In 2024, Krejcikova reached the quarter-finals of the Melbourne Slam for the second time in her career, going down 6-2, 6-3 to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka.
The hard court surface has perhaps proven to be the Czech star’s favoured surface in recent years. Aside from winning Wimbledon as an underdog in the summer, the only time she has gotten past the third round in Australia is over the past three seasons.
The 29-year-old went to the fourth round in 2023 in addition to two quarter-finals, a marketable improvement from her efforts especially at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 campaigns.
Last time out at the WTA Finals, Krejcikova was in fine form and reached the semi-finals before losing to Qinwen Zheng.
She had also defeated Coco Gauff in the group stage, before the American went on to win the competition and bank a whopping £3.7million.
