Tennis-Swiatek pulls out of Sydney event with rib injury

World number nine Iga Swiatek has pulled out of next week's Sydney Tennis Classic due to a rib injury, the 20-year-old said on Sunday. Poland's Swiatek, who won the French Open title in 2020, went down to top-ranked Ash Barty 6-2 6-4 in the semi-final of the Adelaide International on Saturday.

World number nine Iga Swiatek has pulled out of next week's Sydney Tennis Classic due to a rib injury, the 20-year-old said on Sunday.

Poland's Swiatek, who won the French Open title in 2020, went down to top-ranked Ash Barty 6-2 6-4 in the semi-final of the Adelaide International on Saturday. Swiatek was scheduled to play U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the opening round of the WTA 500 event in Sydney, which has a packed field of top names and will be led by Australian Barty.

The Australian Open, the year's opening Grand Slam will start in Melbourne on Jan. 17. "After intense pre-season and last week's tournament in Adelaide I feel like my body needs more time to recover before Australian Open," Swiatek said in a statement on Twitter.

"I've been feeling some pain in my lower rib area which is why unfortunately I've decided to withdraw from the tournament in Sydney."