Rosario Nadia Podoroska confirmed that she suffers from physical discomfort that will prevent her from participating in the Argentina Open, the WTA women’s tennis tournament that will be played at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis, between October 31 and November 7.
The Argentine tennis player could not recover from the back injury that took her away from the circuit in recent times, and will miss the return of the Argentina Open after 34 years.
“It is a very tough decision for me and for my entire team, since I was very excited about playing a tournament in my country. I hope to be there next year, and I hope that this year all the Argentine girls can enjoy and value what they do. it means having a tournament at home, “said Podoroska through a video broadcast on the Argentina Open networks.
“This tournament is something very important for all of us who play tennis. I also wish that many people can come to see the tournament and enjoy women’s tennis,” added the 24-year-old Rosario, semi-finalist at Roland Garros 2020.
In the women’s ranking, dominated by Australian Ashleigh Barty, Podoroska – who was unable to play several tournaments in recent weeks, including Indian Wells – had a sharp decline of 42 positions and was ranked 82nd in the world.
The Women’s Argentina Open will distribute $ 115,000 in prizes and the champion will obtain 160 points for the WTA ranking. It will have a main singles draw of 32 players and 16 doubles pairs, and a ranking of 16 tennis players in singles.
Without the presence of Podoroska, for now Egyptian Mayar Sherif will start as the top seed, along with Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, who has just eliminated Karolina Pliskova in Indian Wells. In addition, after the loss of Rosario, a Wildcard is released, so there will surely be a new Argentine tennis player who will be part of the final draw.
At the event there will be at least two Argentines present, with the guest Solana Sierra and the also young JazmÃn Ortenzi, Pre-Tournamente champion from a few weeks ago. Lourdes Carlé could also join.
The brand new Women’s Argentina Open will be the first WTA tournament organized by Tennium, the Barcelona-based firm that owns the rights to ATP 250 in Buenos Aires and in Antwerp, Belgium. As part of the contract it has with BALTC, the company, whose founder is the Belgian Kristoff Puelinckx, undertook various works in the sector, such as the expansion of the central corridor to access the courts, the renovation of the perimeter fences of the courts and the widening of the courts to allow both courts to be played at the same time.
Argentina did not have a WTA contest since 1987, when Gabriela Sabatini won the title by defeating German Isabel Cueto 6-0, 6-2 in the final, in what was the Peugeot Open Championship of the Argentine Republic, also at the BALTC.
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