2022 Champ Iga Swiatek Out of Miami Open with Rib Injury

Iga Swiatek of Poland talks to the media after withdrawing from the tournament through injury during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 22, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
Iga Swiatek of Poland talks to the media after withdrawing from the tournament through injury during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 22, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
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2022 Champ Iga Swiatek Out of Miami Open with Rib Injury

Iga Swiatek of Poland talks to the media after withdrawing from the tournament through injury during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 22, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
Iga Swiatek of Poland talks to the media after withdrawing from the tournament through injury during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 22, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)

Defending champion Iga Swiatek pulled out of the Miami Open on Wednesday because of a rib injury.

The No. 1-ranked Swiatek was supposed to face Claire Liu in the second round on Thursday.

As a seeded player, three-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek received a first-round bye in the hard-court tournament that she won a year ago during a 37-match unbeaten run that was the longest in women's tennis in a quarter of a century.

Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland, said after a 6-2, 6-2 loss to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals Friday that her rib was bothering her.

“I still have to run some tests and see what’s going on. I don’t know yet,” Swiatek said Friday.

Instead of playing Swiatek, Liu will go up against 94th-ranked Julia Grabher, who lost in qualifying but now gets to move into the draw.

Liu advanced Tuesday when her first-round opponent, Katerina Siniakova, stopped playing in the second set because of a hurt wrist.



Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
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Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony: Saudi Team Highlights Cultural Heritage

Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)
Saudi athletes wave their country’s flag during the opening parade. (Saudi Olympic Committee)

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and his deputy, Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz, attended the opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris.

Held outside the traditional stadiums for the first time in history, the ceremony featured a parade of the 206 participating countries on 100 boats traveling approximately 6 kilometers along the Seine River.

The Saudi show jumping team player, Ramzy Al-Duhami, and his colleague, the Saudi Taekwondo champion Dunya Aboutaleb, raised the Saudi flag at the opening of the world’s largest sporting event.

Al-Duhami expressed his pride in raising the Kingdom’s flag alongside his teammate, noting that it was a dream for any Saudi citizen. He wished success for the Saudi athletes in representing Saudi sports with distinction.

Aboutaleb, in turn, said he was honored to carry the Kingdom’s flag at the Olympic Games, stating: “I aspire to perform at a level that reflects the support and attention given to sports in the Kingdom.”

The Saudi athletes’ uniform was admired by the international media and the audience, who applauded the players the moment their boat appeared on the Seine River.

The designs for the opening ceremony were chosen through a national competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with the participation of designers from across the Kingdom.

Out of 128 competing designers, the chosen uniform by Saudi designer Alia Al-Salmi featured traditional men’s thobes and bishts and brightly patterned thobe al-nashal for women, symbolizing the athletes’ pride in their homeland and cultural roots.

Mashael Al-Ayed, 17, will be the first Saudi athlete to compete, taking to the pool for the 200 meters freestyle swimming event on July 28. Al-Ayed is the first female swimmer to represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics.