Barbora Krejcikova withdraws from Indian Wells to dent world number one hopes

World number two Barbora Krejcikova is the latest big name to withdraw from this year’s Indian Wells tournament, after revealing she is suffering from an arm injury. 

The reigning French Open champion was scheduled to be the top seed at the prestigious WTA 1000 event but has failed to overcome her injury in time. 

Krejcikova was due to play either qualifier Harmony Tan or Rebecca Peterson in the second round but has now been replaced by France’s Alize Cornet in the second round. Lucky loser Magdalena Fręch will take Cornet’s place in the draw. 

The Czech’s absence is another blow for the tournament, which has already seen Australian Open champion, Ashleigh Barty, choosing to skip the event. 

Barty, who has been the world number one for three consecutive seasons now, revealed her body has not recovered since her win in Melbourne, and that she’s not at the ‘level necessary’ to win right now. 

The Aussie is nearly 3000 points ahead of Krejcikova at the top of the world rankings right now, meaning the Czech has missed a huge opportunity to narrow the gap between herself and Barty. 

As the current holder of the French Open trophy, Krejcikova will also be forced to defend 2000 points at Roland-Garros this year and is almost guaranteed to drop in the rankings unless she wins the tournament again. 

Speaking about her withdrawal from the BNP Paribas Open, the Czech said: “I am extremely disappointed and sad to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open.

“I was looking forward to playing in Indian Wells very much but unfortunately I won’t be able to do so this year.

“I have had a pain in my arm on and off since Doha which today intensified overnight and together with my team I had to make a very tough decision to withdraw. I will focus on