A former Wimbledon champion was forced to pull out of the Australian Open just before a scheduled match.
The first Grand Slam of the 2026 season kicks off in Melbourne Park in Australia, with men’s and women’s singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and wheelchair events all taking place.
Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys were the 2025 winners in the singles competitions and this time around there is a record total prize pool of £57.5 million - following a 16 per cent increase.
The winners in the men's and women's singles will bank a whopping £2.07 million - 19% higher than last year.
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However, it was bad news for Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova as she confirmed she would not be able to compete as planned.
In the first round of the women's singles, Vondrousova was poised to take on Hayley Baptiste.
However, the match-up did not happen as Vondrousova could not shake off problems with her shoulder and pulled out at the death.
“I'm really sorry that I had to withdraw from the Australian Open due to ongoing shoulder issues," Vondrousova said in a statement on Instagram, shared by Tennis Australia.
"After everything I've been dealing with, I need to prioritize my health, even though this decision wasn't easy. Thank you all for your understanding and support."
As a result, Taylor Townsend received a call-up after suffering a defeat in the third round of qualifying to Storm Hunter.
Townsend, who had an impressive run at the US Open on home soil, was beaten 6-3, 6-7(3-7), 6-3. She will now turn her focus to doubles action with Katerina Siniakova.
The top seeds are the defending champions after going all the way in Melbourne last year and kick off the campaign against Anna Siskova and Magali Kempen.
Vondrousova won Wimbledon in 2023 for her only Grand Slam victory - defeating Ons Jabeur to become first unseeded women's singles Wimbledon champion.
The Olympic silver medalist has been plagued by injuries in recent times and her 2025 US Open run came to an unfortunate end at the quarter-final stage when she had to pull out with a knee injury suffered during practice.
That meant she missed out on her scheduled game with Aryna Sabalenka, who went on to win the tournament.
Topics: Tennis
Josh Lawless