After making a strong start to her campaign at the Bad Homburg Open, Elina Svitolina has decided to withdraw from the tournament all of a sudden, just five days ahead of Wimbledon. The Ukrainian had recorded a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Liudmila Samsonova in the first round. It was during this match that Svitolina sustained an injury, bringing her challenge to an early end.

Turns out that the 31-year-old picked up a right hip injury during the first-round clash. Svitolina was scheduled to play Xinyu Wang in the second round, but the latter will now move straight into the third round. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for her, as it puts her Wimbledon participation in jeopardy.

“Unfortunately, I will be pulling out of my quarterfinal match here in Bad Homburg,” she said on an Instagram story. “Last night it was a hard-fought victory, but it took a little bit more than expected out of my body, so therefore I need a few more days to recover. I wish all the best to all the players who are still competing and a lot of success to the tournament and hopefully to see you all next year.”

Elina Svitolina had begun her grass-court season last week, where she had reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Alexandra Eala. The World No. 8 was being seen as one of the favorites at the Bad Homburg Open, but now has had to unexpectedly withdraw from the tournament.

The first round proved to be quite grueling for Svitolina. She began the match on a dismal note and found it very hard to find stability on her serve. This allowed Samsonova to capitalize and clinch the first set comfortably. Injury concerns had started arising for Svitolina during the second set, and she even had to take a medical timeout because of a problem in her hip area.

Despite this, the Ukrainian fought hard in the second set and went on to level the match. The third set didn’t commence as Svitolina would have wanted. Samsonova got an early break and raced to a 2-0 lead. But Elina Svitolina came back brilliantly and won six games in a row to rack up the impressive victory in two hours and 12 minutes.

Though the performance was quite promising, it resulted in an injury that can prove to be detrimental to Svitolina’s season. Although she didn’t completely rule out participating in the upcoming Grand Slam in London, there is no clarity over how serious the injury is. She has limited time to recover before Wimbledon begins on June 29.

If Elina Svitolina does go on to withdraw from the SW19, then she will be one of the most high-profile players to miss the Grand Slam this year. However, she wouldn’t be the only high-ranked player to miss the tournament, as multiple star athletes from both ATP and WTA have already pulled out of the tournament.

Carlos Alcaraz, Victoria Mboko, and more withdraw from Wimbledon

The biggest name to miss out on Wimbledon this season is undoubtedly Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard has been out of action since April due to a wrist injury that he picked up at the Barcelona Open. The setback had resulted in him pulling out from the French Open as well, and he aims to be back in action before the summer hard-court swing, which starts in July.

Lorenzo Musetti will also not be in action at the upcoming edition of the SW19. He hasn’t competed since sustaining the rectus femoris injury at the Rome Masters last month. He wasn’t able to recover in time for Wimbledon and will now be aiming to return as soon as the hard-court season commences.

Another notable player who will not be playing at Wimbledon is Valentin Vacherot. The Monegasque has been forced to pull out due to a stress fracture and bone edema in his left foot. The setback derailed his season, as it also led to his withdrawal from the Roland Garros, and he will remain sidelined at least until mid-July.

On the other hand, Victoria Mboko is the most high-profile player to miss out on the WTA side. She had suffered a nasty fall at the HSBC Championships during her clash against Karolina Pliskova and had sustained a knee injury. This had resulted in her withdrawing from the remainder of the grass swing, including Wimbledon.

Hailey Baptiste will also not be in action at the Championships. This is due to the ACL tear that she had sustained at the French Open last month. She is expected to remain out of action in the coming months as well. It remains to be seen if Elina Svitolina ends up joining that list.