Heather Watson will not participate in Auckland tournament due to an injury – Tennis News
Another blow to the tournament officials after the Kiwi number two, Sacha Jones changed nationalities to pay under the flag of Australia in 2012. This time, one of the most intelligent and talented local stars, Heather Watson,
has announced her withdrawal from the Auckland event, starting next month.
She is severely suffering from an ankle injury and her recovery is slower than expected, making her ineligible to take part in the warm-up tournament just before the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open (starting
from 16th of January).
It is a major setback for the tournament officials just few days before the tournament kicks-off and they immediately have to lookout for a perfect replacement. With the jam packed schedule and every player engaged in some
tournament next season, it is going to be one of the most difficult tasks to find a proper replacement for the youngster.
British tennis professional was disappointed to miss out on one of her favourite tennis arenas. Her facebook official page stated, “Unfortunately I will not be playing in Auckland because I sprained my ankle badly."
This will add misery to the home crowd, which will face the second disappointing news in couple of days. Jones nationality switch and now Watson’s non-participation, it seems like Auckland officials will have to work extremely
hard to make sure enough people turnout in the sporting arena that will help them break-even at least.
Further adding about her frustration of not making it to Auckland, Watson stated, “It's very frustrating, but Auckland is one of my favourite tournaments of the year and I'm looking forward to playing it next year because
I love the event.”
Watson has already qualified for the Australian Open and she will be participating in the year’s first Grand Slam but her warm-up tournament has exchanged names; she will commence her new season at the qualifying round of
the Moorilla International tournament, contested in Hobart from January 6th. Talking about his start of the season at Hobart, she said, “Hobart will now be my first tournament of the year."
Lately, injuries have been the reason for the non-participation of big guns in major tournaments. Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer didn’t participate in Shanghai and China Open due to fatigue whereas reigning world number one,
Novak Djokovic also missed out on several events.
Spanish number one, Rafael Nadal was seen in pain during the year-end finale and he hasn’t recovered completely according to his uncle-c*m coach, Toni Nadal. Maria Sharapova has pulled out of Brisbane 2012 due to ankle injury
and Venus Williams is still fighting Sjogren syndrome. These events clearly disappoint the crowd that are eager to see their idols in action.
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