World No. 1 Iga Swiatek withdraws from grass-court event in Berlin ahead of Wimbledon

The two finalists of the French Open 2024, Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini, opted out of the WTA grass-court event in Berlin that is scheduled for next week. The tournament, which gets started on Monday, is one of two WTA 500 grass-court events scheduled in a short three-week period following Wimbledon, which starts on July 1. 

The WTA later announced that Paolini, who had played 13 matches in Paris, had withdrawn due to an unknown injury. The 28-year-old had not only lost to Swiatek in her first Grand Slam singles final but also made it to the increases final with friends Italian Sara Errani, where they were ousted by Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.

Her achievements this week pushed her to career-high rankings in each category and her first-ever Top 10 ranking. However, the remaining eight players in the current Top 10, including newly-ranked world No. 2 Gauff, will be competing in the Berlin competition. Swiatek, who won her third consecutive Roland Garros title after beating Paolini 6-2, 6-1, opened up about her pick to switch to grass courts, which has consistently been her least successful surface.

Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek revealed that she has withdrawn from the marquee even owing to physical and mental fatigue after an intense nine weeks. The 23-year-old was reluctant, but her body needed rest and time to recover, which made her pull out of the marquee event.

I do need to withdraw from the tournament in Berlin in order to rest and recover: Iga

"Due to overall physical and mental fatigue after an intense nine weeks, unfortunately, I do need to withdraw from the tournament in Berlin in order to rest and recover," world No. 1 Swiatek, who won 19 consecutive clay-court matches to win Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros, said in a statement released by the tournament on Wednesday.

"I had these ideas, like, doing preseason on grass so I can learn how to play there. Last year's result was pretty nice. I feel like every year it's easier for me to adapt to grass. So I think there is no need to do that. I just need to continue the work that I've been doing. It's been easier every year, especially with my coach who, with [Agnieszka] Radwanska, they had great results on grass and he kind of feels grass well, I think," she added further.