World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and third-ranked Paula Badosa have both withdrawn from Berlin.
Berlin update
OUT: Swiatek, Badosa
IN: Cornet, Sasnovich
NEXT: Kanepi
— Entry List Updates Women (@EntryListsWomen) June 9, 2022
Swiatek, who turned 21 last week, is coming off a French Open victory and now there is a strong chance she won’t compete until Wimbledon.
On the other side, Badosa is also skipping the beginning of the grass season but there is a chance she plays before Wimbledon as she is still on the Eastbourne entry list.
Iga Swiatek and Paula Badosa have both pulled out of the stacked #WTA event in Berlin.
Means the world No 1 looks set to play just one grass-court tournament this summer (Wimbledon).
Badosa is still on the entry list for Eastbourne, I believe.
— James Gray (@jamesgraysport) June 9, 2022
Following the withdrawals of Swiatek and Badosa, places in the Berlin main draw opened for Alize Cornet and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Swiatek and Badosa have no previous appearances in Berlin as they had been expected to debut at the German grass event this year.
Swiatek suggested she will likely play only Wimbledon
During her appearance on the WTA insider podcast, Swiatek appeared to suggest she would only play Wimbledon during the grass season.
Many are curious to see how will Swiatek do at Wimbledon as she has won her last 35 matches but grass is her weakest surface.
“I think when I’m going to start Wimbledon I’m just going to think about getting through the first matches. I won’t think about the streak because I know it’s not helping me. I did the same here and I know how to separate my mind from that and focus on tennis,” Swiatek said on the WTA insider podcast. “But right now for sure, I can think about that a little bit more and I would love to add some matches to that streak. But I feel that chapter is closed for sure for clay season, but also after the Sunshine Double I didn’t really have a lot of time to rest and I really want to rest right now after Roland Garros. Because back then I was like I’ll have three days off, but I couldn’t really stop thinking about the season. Right now I think I will have more time and I really want to do my best at resting.”