PARIS — Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina pulled out of the French Open before her third-round match on Saturday due to illness. «I just wanted to give 100%, and obviously I'm far from being 100%,» Rybakina said. «If I cannot breathe, there is no chance I can even run and try to compete.» The No.
4-seeded Rybakina was supposed to face 132nd-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo in the day's opening contest on Court Philippe Chatrier.
They were scheduled to begin playing at 11:45 a.m. local time, but instead, at that very moment, Rybakina sat down behind the microphone at a news conference to explain why she was withdrawing from the year's second Grand Slam tournament.
Sounding stuffed up, Rybakina explained that she has been running a fever, didn't sleep well the past two nights and had difficulty breathing during a warmup session Saturday ahead of her match.