Two days after winning the biggest title of her career, Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk has pulled out of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia WTA 1000 event on Tuesday citing a right hip injury.
Seeded 23rd in Rome, Kostyuk was hoping to become only the fourth woman, after Dinara Safina, Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek, to win Madrid and Rome back-to-back, but those hopes were dashed by the injury. She is unbeaten on clay this year, winning 11 matches in a row to claim titles in Rouen and Madrid.
In a statement posted on social media, Kostyuk said she will take some time to recover and get ready for the French Open, which begins later this month in Paris.
“After the best stretch of my career, I was looking forward to Rome,” she said in the statement. “But sometimes your body has other plans, and over the past few days I’ve been dealing with a hip issue. With my ankle still not fully at 100%, it’s just not smart to keep pushing right now, so I won’t be competing there this year. I’m sad to miss it, but I’ll see you next year. Now it’s time to recover and get ready for Paris.”
Her position in the draw has been taken by Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who goes in as the 33rd seed. Beatriz Haddad Maia, who was scheduled to play Cristian, will now face a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round.
