Former Roland Garros quarter-finalist Paula Badosa withdrew from the event due to a stress fracture in her back.
The Spanish player withdrew due to a back injury which is in fact a stress fracture. With the draw set to happen at around 14:00 CET today, the news seems like a very late withdrawal as Badosa likely pushed to play the event. The world number 29 is set to have a stress fracture in the L4 vertebra which is not a minor thing for sure.
It's been a tough year for the Spaniard who had dealt with injuries from the start of the year. The 2023 Australian Open was missed due to an injury that she sustained in the week leading up to the event. Those problems continued later with a withdrawal from the Abu Dhabi event, another big event on the calendar.
Things started to look a bit better in Stuttgart where she nearly defeated Aryna Sabalenka. That momentum led her to believe that things would be looking better in Madrid and they were until she ran into Maria Sakkari who proved better in straight sets. Now this back injury will keep her out of another grand slam this year making her miss both the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
Wimbledon is not too far and a stress fracture is such a complicated area doesn't seem likely to heal very quickly. The reports don't indicate whether her grass season is in doubt but it hasn't been a very good year with injuries for the Spaniard. Hopefully that changes in the coming months. In a statement, she wrote:
"Just when everything seemed to be fine again, I received bad news just before starting a Grand Slam. At the tournament in Rome I suffered a stress fracture in my spine. It has been very hard news after such a difficult start of the season with injuries."
"This is going to keep me out of the competition for some weeks. Thanks to all of you who are with me no matter what. I’ll keep you updated."