Rigorous scheduling and the quick switch to grass courts have led to a whole host of injuries among WTA players, resulting in key withdrawals from the upcoming Nottingham Open. Three of the seeded players and a former Grand Slam champion had already pulled out of the tournament, and a recent development saw one of the in-form home favorites skip the event as well.

Emma Raducanu has become the latest withdrawal from the Nottingham Open. Raducanu’s withdrawal was expected; she’d been noncommittal at Queens after reaching the final.

Raducanu had one of her best campaigns in recent years at Queen’s Club, reaching the final as the home favorite. She looked assured on grass, having recovered from the viral illness that plagued her clay season. She beat Anna Blinkova, Sorana Cirstea, Kamila Rakhimova, and Iva Jovic before losing to Donna Vekic in the final. Raducanu was already seen playing with strapping on her leg after a fall on the grass, and she also had to play her quarterfinal and semifinal matches on the same day because the schedule was forced to be congested by rain.

The first week of grass-court tennis has seen a whole host of players slip on the surface and sustain injuries, with the likes of Victoria Mboko, Raducanu, and Alexandra Eala all taking a tumble at Queens. Playing a baseline-heavy game on the slippery grass surface increases the risk of knee and ankle injuries, a concern that has led top-seeded Iva Jovic and seventh-seeded Jaqueline Cristian to withdraw from the Nottingham draw.

Another notable miss will be Barbora Krejcikova, the former Wimbledon champion, who had to withdraw from her final against Robin Montgomery at the Libema Open due to a respiratory issue, the same one that has kept her out of Nottingham.

The likes of Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Jelena Ostapenko have also withdrawn from Nottingham, with the Italian suffering from a knee injury and the Latvian not playing since the French Open, even though she was the sixth seed at the grass-court event.

Players Will Aim to Preserve Themselves Ahead of Wimbledon

Grand Slams are the most lucrative competitions for players, offering the highest purses, even for first-round losers, and providing significant exposure. That is why no player will want to risk injury and let their Wimbledon chances simmer away. No one has to look further than Victoria Mboko, who is already out of Wimbledon, having suffered a bad fall at Queens.

For someone like Raducanu, it makes sense to skip Nottingham, as she had a great run in Queens, which gave her the practice she needed on a grass court, and she still has the option of playing Eastbourne as a final warm-up. Also, one mustn’t forget that, as a British player, Raducanu faces additional scrutiny during the grass-court season, with most events in the UK leading up to Wimbledon. Playing in Nottingham would not only have meant on-court action but also off-court media obligations, which would have been an added burden for her.

Krejcikova’s injury history has derailed her singles career; she’s never had a sustained run. At her best, she’s a Grand Slam threat, as seen at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, and previously at the 2021 French Open. Someone like her will always be a tricky draw, and her withdrawal from the Libema Open final was a sort of confirmation that she won’t play Nottingham.

Even for someone like Iva Jovic, protecting oneself from injuries at this point should be the priority, as the American youngster will be raring to have a go at Wimbledon, having already reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open this year.