Victoria Azarenka to Skip WTA Stuttgart Open 2021 Due to a Good Reason

Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka has decided to skip the upcoming Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.  However, her reason for withdrawal is not so ordinary. She is not playing this year because she has scheduled her first dosage of the COVID-19 vaccine in the same week.

It will make her the third athlete from the WTA fraternity to take the coronavirus jab. Before her, Romanian World No. 3 Simona Halep and former World No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard have taken the vaccination.

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Victoria Azarenka announces Stuttgart withdrawal on Twitter

Former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has had a displeasing start to her 2021 season. Moreover, her opening-round loss at the Australian Open 2021 was quite shocking. Currently, she has a 6-4 win-loss record in which she exercised a walk-over from the match twice.

Furthermore, WTA Stuttgart 2021 would have been her first clay-court tournament of the year. But only a few days ahead, she revealed the unfortunate news.

The two-time Australian Open winner took to Twitter to confirm her withdrawal. “I will unfortunately not be able to compete in Stuttgart at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix next week as I will be receiving my first dosis of the vaccine at the same time. I wish the tournament all the best, and I do hope to be able to compete again in Stuttgart next year,” Vika wrote.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams will also skip Stuttgart. Consequently, Australian World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and Romanian Simona Halep will headline the event.

WTA 500 Stuttgart will run from April 19th till April 25th, 2021, and has a prize pool of $565,530. Czech professional Petra Kvitova is the defending champion of the tournament.

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When will Azarenka return to the tour?

Azarenka might make her comeback after Stuttgart at Mutua Madrid Open 2021; Naomi Osaka would join her. Serena Williams will skip that event as well due to some personal reasons.

Chiefly, the Belarusian would also want to get his feet on the clay as soon as possible. She will need to buckle up to qualify for the year-end tournament, the WTA Finals. But first, she would want to do better than Australia at the French Open 2021.

Can Azarenka make it into the Top 10 this year from her current rank of 15?

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