Italian Open rocked by another withdrawal hours before match as chaos continues

The Italian Open has been hit by another late withdrawal, as No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko pulled out of the tournament hours before her opening match on Friday. The Canadian star was due to face Italian wildcard Tyra Grant in the third match on the BNP Paribas Arena this afternoon, but has withdrawn, citing gastrointestinal illness.

Mboko had received a bye directly into the second round as one of the top seeds. She has been replaced by lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova, who will take her place in the draw and face Grant on Friday afternoon.

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The Italian Tennis Federation confirmed that Grant’s opponent had changed, writing: “No challenge against the seeded player Mboko: Grant's opponent in the second round will be Nikola Bartunkova, defeated in 3 sets by [Anastasia] Potapova in the qualifiers.”

The world No. 9 becomes the sixth player to have withdrawn after the draw was made last weekend. Marta Kostyuk pulled out with a right hip injury shortly after winning the Madrid Open last week.

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Emma Raducanu announced her withdrawal on Tuesday afternoon – less than an hour after completing her pre-tournament media interviews and telling reporters she had turned a corner. The British No. 1 cited the post-viral illness that has kept her on the sidelines for two months.

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No. 6 seed Amanda Anisimova also pulled out hours before her opening match on Thursday. She had been expected to take on Jelena Ostapenko but withdrew due to an ongoing left wrist injury.

On the men’s side, 22nd seed Arthur Rinderknech was forced out due to a left calf injury and was replaced by Aleksandar Kovacevic. And on Thursday evening, Rinderknech’s cousin, No. 14 seed Valentin Vacherot, also announced his withdrawal. Spanish lucky loser Martin Landaluce took his place in the draw.

Vacherot cited a foot injury for his withdrawal, and shared a statement on his Instagram account on Friday morning. “Ciao Roma!” he wrote.

“So sad not to play this beautiful tournament this year… Picked up an injury in Madrid and season is too long to take any risks. See you really soon on courts.”

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