World No. 18, Andrea Petkovic of Germany, has been forced to withdraw from the London Olympics due to an ankle injury suffered at the Stuttgart Grand Prix in April against current World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
“Really sorry to announce that I will not be competing at the Olympic Games,” she said on her Twitter feed. “I’m heartbroken and sad as can be but I’m just not ready yet.”
Petkovic had already missed the last two Grand Slam tournaments, The French Open and Wimbledon, because of the injury. Ironically, Petkovic had just returned to play following a stress fracture of her back.
Petkovic was one of four German women to qualify for the Olympic singles, along with No. 7 Angelique Kerber, No. 17 Sabine Lisicki, and No. 24 Julia Goerges.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said there has been no decision yet on who would replace Petkovic in the 64-strong women’s singles draw.
You can watch Petkovic’s injury happen on YouTube at “Petkovic injury”.
