Karolina Muchova returned from a wrist injury this week but was forced to withdraw before the 2024 Eastbourne International quarter-final match against Madison Keys.
The Czech player is one of the best players in the world when fully healthy. She's proved it a couple of times with runs like last year's Roland Garros. In fact, she was supposed to play at the WTA Finals last year, which is a tournament reserved for the Top 8 players in the world in the given calendar year.
In her career, like many others, she suffered a wrist injury, which is very tricky to handle. Her return in Eastbourne was amazing, as she was playing really solid tennis, making her way to the quarter-final of the WTA 500 event immediately.
However, she never made it to the courts on Thursday to face Keys because she felt something in her wrist after waking up and decided to withdraw until she figured out what the problem was. The WTA announced her withdrawal, citing a right wrist injury.
Muchova later confirmed that she did feel something in her wrist, albeit it didn't seem like an injury similar to the one she had. It's likely just her wrist reacting to the increased workload, but still, it's not ideal.
"It was my first tournament back after a while and nobody knew what to expect or how my body would react. Today I woke up and when I tried to warm up the body and the wrist it was a little stiff."
"I’m in touch with my medical team back in Prague and they recommended that I did not risk it with Wimbledon around the corner."
Ideally, she wouldn't have felt anything, and that's why she made the decision to withdraw from the tournament and focus on the Wimbledon Championships.
"Even though I really love playing in Eastbourne and I felt great on the court here, unfortunately I had to pull out. I really, really loved it here. The grounds are packed and everyone was so nice and supportive, telling me welcome back, so that makes it even more sad for me that I cannot go out and play for them. It’s early in my comeback and I just don’t want to rush it."