The two-time Grand Slam winner Wiktoria Asarenka will not use her wildcard and will not participate in the Australian Open (15. till 28. January) will take place. This was announced by tournament director Craig Tiley on Monday. Asarenka (Belarus), who has been pausing for about seven months due to a custody dispute over her son Leo, received a special permit to participate in mid-December.
“Unfortunately, Asarenka can’t come to Australia this year,” Tiley wrote on Twitter:”The Australian Open are her favorite tournament and she is looking forward to returning to Melbourne next year.
Asarenka had triumphed in Australia in 2012 and 2013. The former world number one has been missing from the Wimbledon tour since her elimination in the last sixteen of Wimbledon and has slipped to 210th place in the WTA ranking.
The 28-year-old had to cancel her participation in the US Open in New York in August because her son was not allowed to leave California due to the pending proceedings. Asarenka’s ex-boyfriend Billy McKeague, father of the common child, had filed a custody petition with a court in Los Angeles after his separation in July 2017.