Defending champion Ons Jabeur withdraws from Madrid Open due to injury

Madrid [Spain], April 25 : Defending champion Ons Jabeur is unable to defend her Madrid Open title this year as she has withdrawn from WTA 1000 event due to injury. The World No.4 from Tunisia withdrew from the tournament on Monday because of a left calf injury.

Jabeur reached the last four of last week's Stuttgart Open, but she retired from her semifinal match against World No.1 Iga Swiatek with a sprained left calf while trailing 3-0.

Two-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur said on social media that medical exams showed, "A small tear in my calf and I will need more time to recover. I am sad to announce that I won't be able to compete and defend my title this year [at Madrid.]"

Jabeur was seeded fourth in the Madrid main draw before withdrawing. Shelby Rogers of the United States, previously the highest-ranked unseeded player, will replace Jabeur as the No.33 seed in the draw. A qualifier or fortunate loser will fill Rogers' previous slot in the draw.

This is Jabeur's second injury of the season. Jabeur had minor knee surgery after the Australian Open this year, which kept her out of the entire Middle East swing in February.

Jabeur came back for the Sunshine Double and then appeared to be back to her best on clay. She won her fourth career WTA singles victory on dirt in Charleston in early April, then beat Jelena Ostapenko and Beatriz Haddad Maia in Stuttgart before retiring in the semifinals.

She entered the French Open last year as one of the championship favourites after success on red clay, including a title in Madrid, but she was knocked out in the first round.