“Due to my shoulder surgery, I get a limited number of protected ranking entries,” Eugenie Bouchard wrote on Twitter as she explained her reasons for withdrawing from Wimbledon. “As much as I love Wimbledon and skipping it makes me sad, using a PR entry at a tournament with no ranking points doesn’t make sense.” The 2014 finalist will now turn her attention to the US Open and Australian Open.
Eugenie Bouchard has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to the “WTA’s decision to not award ranking points at this year’s Championships”.
The 2014 finalist has seen her ranking tumble after undergoing surgery on a shoulder injury suffered on the way to the final at the Guadalajara Open back in March 2021.
The ATP and WTA Tours have removed points from the grass-court Grand Slam after the All England Club’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing following the invasion of Ukraine.
For that reason, Bouchard is now solely focusing on the US Open and Australian Open.
“I have decided to withdraw from Wimbledon due to the WTA’s decision to not award ranking points at this year’s Championship,” Bouchard wrote on Twitter.
“Due to my shoulder surgery, I get a limited number of protected ranking (PR) entries. As much as I love Wimbledon and skipping it makes me sad, using a PR entry at a tournament with no ranking points doesn’t make sense.
“I must choose wisely and use my PR entries at tournaments that will help me get back to where I want to be.
“I am continuing my training/rehab and plan on returning to competition later this summer. I will now use my two Grand Slam PR entries for the US Open and the Australian Open.”
Bouchard’s withdrawal comes just days after Nick Kyrgios dismissed concerns about ranking points.
“Every player should try to play Wimbledon, rather than not play for the points,” the Australian said.
“Like, I think as a kid, you want to win Wimbledon, you want to play Wimbledon.
“Everyone that follows tennis knows what Wimbledon is, and people that even don’t follow tennis know what Wimbledon is. That’s a great example.
“Obviously, she is not worried about ranking, I understand. But everyone should be playing Wimbledon if they can.”
Last month, two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has also been vocal on the subject, questioning who knows or cares about ranking points in other sports, such as football and golf.
“I follow golf very closely and have no idea how many ranking points the winner of the Masters gets,” Murray wrote on Twitter.
“Me and my friends love football and none of us know or care how many ranking points a team gets for winning the World Cup.
“But I could tell you exactly who won the World Cup and the Masters. I’d hazard a guess that most people watching on Centre Court at Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time wouldn’t know or care about how many ranking points a player gets for winning a third-round match.
“But I guarantee they will remember who wins. Wimbledon will never be an exhibition and will never feel like an exhibition. The end.”
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who has won the last three editions of Wimbledon, will lead the men’s field this time around in the absence of world No. 1 Medvedev and world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, who will not play due to the injury he suffered in defeat to Rafael Nadal in the French Open semi-finals.
On the women’s side, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek will be the top seed as she looks to extend her record-equalling 35-match winning run and secure a third Grand Slam title.
Serena Williams, 40, will also be playing as she bids for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.
