Two days after winning the biggest title of her career, Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk pulled out of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia WTA 1000 event on Tuesday, citing a right hip injury. No. 27 seed Emma Raducanu also withdrew from Rome with a post-viral illness.
The No. 23 seed in Rome, Kostyuk eyed to become only the fourth woman after Dinara Safina, Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek, to win Madrid and Rome back-to-back. She is unbeaten on clay this year on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, winning 11 matches in a row to claim titles in Rouen and Madrid.
“After the best stretch of my career, I was looking forward to Rome,” she said in a social media post. “But sometimes your body has other plans, and over the past few days I’ve been dealing with a hip issue. With my ankle still not fully at 100%, it’s just not smart to keep pushing right now, so I won’t be competing there this year. I’m sad to miss it, but I’ll see you next year. Now it’s time to recover and get ready for Paris.”
As for Raducanu, she has not played since Indian Wells, where she was eliminated in the third round. She was scheduled to begin her clay season in the Italian capital after withdrawing ahead of Linz and Madrid.
Kostyuk’s position in the draw has been taken by Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who goes in as the 33rd seed. Beatriz Haddad Maia, who was scheduled to play Cristian, will now face a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round. Raducanu’s spot will be taken by a qualifier, who will face the winner of Solana Sierra and a qualifer or lucky loser.
