Reigning Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek will not play at the 2024 Berlin Open, as she withdrew from the WTA 500 event.
The Pole had a very busy clay season this year, playing at many events and doing quite well. The only thing that prevented it from being a perfect clay season was a rare loss to Elena Rybakina, who proved better at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Since then, she's been undefeated, winning trophies in Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros, which was an impressive sequence from the world number one. Her run in Paris, in particular, was very impressive, as she didn't have any issues from start to finish if we disregard the match with Naomi Osaka.
The physical and mental toll of such a run was significant for the Polish player because it was not only the Roland Garros. The tournaments in Rome and Madrid took a toll, without a chance to digest and recover from all of that properly.
As announced by the event organizers on social media, Swiatek has withdrawn from the event to recover from the fatigue of both her run in Paris and all the tennis she played in weeks prior.
"Due to overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense 9 weeks, unfortunately I do need to withdraw from the tournament in Berlin in order to rest and recover."
Swiatek's decision is probably smart because she played a lot of tennis, and it certainly left a mark on her. Grass season isn't her priority, especially not with the Olympics this year played on clay, so she doesn't really need to play much on the green surface outside of Wimbledon.
Playing a preparation event on grass ahead of the major would be ideal for world no. 1, but weighing in all the pros and cons, withdrawing probably made the most sense.
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