“There goes my grass dreams”: Osaka, Thiem, Zverev, Bouchard withdraw from Wimbledon

While Rafael Nadal has confirmed he plans to try to play Wimbledon, a few other names have been announcing their withdrawals from the grass-court Grand Slam.

Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who had previously expressed doubt about playing the event without ranking points, announced on social media that a lingering left Achilles injury has ruled her out entirely.

“My Achilles still isn't right so I'll see you next time," the three-time Grand Slam winner wrote on Twitter, adding on Instagram: “There goes my grass dreams.”

It marks the second year in a row that Osaka has sat out Wimbledon; she has not competed at the All England Club since 2019.

Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Eugenie Bouchard will not be playing either, all citing where they are in their injury comebacks. All players from Russia and Belarus, in addition, are also banned from competing.

Thiem plans to play a clay event in Salzburg during Wimbledon, followed by ATP clay events in Gstaad, Bastad and Kitzbuhel, as he ramps up his return from wrist surgery. The 28-year-old from Austria is 0-6 in his comeback so far and No.352 in the rankings.

Speaking during a press conference in Austria, Thiem said he had also been defeated in 34 of the 35 practice sets he had played since returning, but was initially reluctant to reveal his problems. Recently, though, he's noticed his game is improving.

"Now I'm causing damage against with my shots," he added. "Now for the first time [since returning to tour], I can honestly say I am on the right track.

"Now I want to put a bit of pressure on myself again."

Thiem will also be training with Russians Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov.

Zverev's withdrawal was not a surprise, with the 23-year-old German undergoing surgery less than two weeks ago following a bad fall during the French Open.

"We received confirmation that all three lateral ligaments in my right ankle were torn," he had said, adding that "surgery was the best choice" for a return to competition.

Zverev would have been the second seed at Wimbledon.

Bouchard, a former finalist at Wimbledon, said she was withdrawing "due to the WTA's decision not to award ranking points."

The ATP and WTA tours decided to strip points from the tournament following the All England Club's decision to ban Russians and Belarusians.

The 28-year-old Canadian has not played for more than a year and explained that ''due to my shoulder surgery, I get a limited number of protected ranking (PR) entries" and "as much as I love Wimbledon," using a protected ranking for "a tournament with no ranking points does not make sense."

Bouchard is currently unranked on the WTA Tour.

Additional reporting by Stephanie Livaudais