Victoria Azarenka Withdraws With Bad Back; Just 3 Seeds Remain In Madrid

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka withdrew from her match today in Madrid against American qualifier Louisa Chirico due to a back injury.

Azarenka said she injured the back during her first round win over Laura Robson. She is still scheduled to play Rome next week, but will undergo further tests in Madrid to determine the severity of the injury. Azarenka is 26-1 on the season.

The two-time tournament finalist joins several other Top 16 seeds to depart the WTA Premier Mandatory event this week.

With Petra Kvitova already losing today to Daria Gavrilova, the tournament has just three Top 16 seeds remaining and the third round isn’t even finished.

1 Agnieszka Radwanska (Lost 1R)
2 Angelique Kerber (Lost 1R)
3 Garbine Muguruza (Lost 2R0
4 Victoria Azarenka (WD 3R)
5 Petra Kvitova (Lost 3R)
6 Simona Halep   
7 Roberta Vinci (Lost 1R)
8 Carla Suarez Navarro
9 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Lost 1R)
10 Timea Bacsinszky
11 Lucie Safarova (WD 2R)
12 Elina Svitolina (Lost 2R)
13 Karolina Pliskova (Lost 2R)
14 Ana Ivanovic (Lost 2R)
15 Sara Errani (Lost 1R)
16 Sloane Stephens (Lost 2R)