The world number one withdrew from the tournament in Miami at the last minute! What’s bothering the Polish queen?

It wasn’tuntil the second day of the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami that defending champion Iga Swiatekannounced her withdrawal. The Polish tennis player came out with the news on Wednesday afternoon and in a detailed Twitter statement, she outlined the problems she has been struggling with in recent weeks. The world number one will also miss the Billie Jean King Cup in April.

The dominance that Iga Swiatek experienced last season can perhaps only be compared to the reign of Serena Williams. A streak of thirty-seven straight wins and two Grand Slam titles have shot the Pole to the top.

The twenty-one year old has held the top spot for less than a year, but now it is certain that she will lose a large part of her points.”You know, I was already fighting a strong infection during and after the tournament in Doha”, Swiatek mentions the beginning of the problem at the beginning of her statement.

“I was still able to play with the infection, however, after a long fight with a cough I developed a rib injury”, the Pole reveals her current health problems.

Last week at the prestigious event in Indian Wells, Swiatek uncharacteristically dropped out in the quarterfinals. After a 2::6, 2::6 result against later winner Elena Rybakina, there was speculation in the backstage if the world number one’s performance was affected by injury.

“We have been analysing the data for the last few days to prepare a diagnosis for my doctor. Unfortunately, I still feel a lot of pain and I am not able to compete. I need time to recover and I am withdrawing from the Miami tournament and the Billie Jean King Cup.”

Iga Swiatek will not only miss the Miami event, where she would have defended last year’s triumph, but she will also not support her country in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying final against Kazakhstan.

What do these problems mean for the two-time French Open champion?

After a fabulous season last year, the Polish defending champion will total an incredible 4,470 points over the next two months. So the other hungry opponents, led by this year’s Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, have a very good chance to dethrone the reigning queen after a year.

Source: Iga Swiatek, Tennis.com