Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withdraws from French Open, ends season due to knee injury

FLASHBACK: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's speech following her defeat in the 2021 Roland Garros final

Last year’s Roland Garros runner-up Anastasia Pavlychenkova announced on Tuesday that she is shutting down her season early and withdrawing from all events—including the upcoming French Open—due to lingering pain from a knee injury.

A year ago, Pavlyuchenkova reached her first Grand Slam final in Paris, but lost a tight three-setter to Barbora Krejcikova. The Russian had competed in 14 consecutive French Open main draws since her debut in 2008.

“I have been playing this in my head for the last week and it has been a really tough decision to make, as Roland Garros was always very special to me, especially after a dream run last year,” she wrote. “But due to the pain for a long time, now the injury is limiting me physically and mentally to compete and practice fully.”

The news comes two days after the Russian player claimed her first WTA doubles title in six years at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia partnered with Veronika Kudermetova. The pair was a last minute entry, with Pavlyuchenkova in search of more matches and Kudermetova’s regular partner, Elise Mertens, out of Rome.

“The last two tournaments has showed me that the pain was still there and I wasn't ready,” Pavlyuchenkova added. “I have decided to take more time and come back stronger next year!”

The 30-year-old had spent 11 weeks sidelined after the Australian Open in an attempt to rest her knee and recover in time for her title defense. She returned to action in Madrid and Rome, but bowed out in the opening round of both. As a result, Pavlyuchenkova has seen her ranking slip from a career-high world No. 11 last year to outside the WTA’s Top 20.

Pavlyuchenkova joins Matteo Berrettini (hand surgery) and Gael Monfils (foot spur) as notable absences at Roland Garros.