American Star Pegula Pulls Out of French Open

Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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American Star Pegula Pulls Out of French Open

Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

World number five Jessica Pegula announced her withdrawal from the French Open on Thursday, saying she had not yet sufficiently recovered from an injury.
"Unfortunately pulling out of @rolandgarros this year," the American posted on Instagram.
"I'm just about back to practicing normal (haven't had any issues for weeks) but played it super safe with recovery & return to play.
"If I had another 5-7 days I would have been there 100%."
Pegula, 30, has not played an official match since the Billie Jean King Cup in mid-April, said AFP.
She then withdrew from the Madrid Open after "hurting herself", without giving any further details on the nature of her injury.
She also missed the Rome Open, the last big clay-court tournament prior to Roland Garros.
Pegula, however, is confident she will soon return to competition.
"I will definitely be back for a full grass season and the rest of the summer and grinding out the rest of the year," she posted.
Last year, Pegula, 30, was eliminated in the third round of the French Open by Belgium's Elise Mertens.
Her best result at Roland Garros is a quarter-final appearance in 2022 when she lost to eventual winner Iga Swiatek.
The draw for the French Open, which begins at the weekend, takes place later on Thursday.



Sinner Gets April Date at Sports Court for Appeal Hearing in Doping Case

Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Sinner Gets April Date at Sports Court for Appeal Hearing in Doping Case

Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)

Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner will go to sport's highest court in April for the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal that seeks to ban him from the sport for at least one year.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday it scheduled a closed-doors hearing on April 16-17 at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CAS gave no timetable for a verdict, though the parties could request a fast-track decision before the French Open starts May 25.

WADA is challenging a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency not to suspend Sinner for what it judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid last March. Sinner's explanation — that trace amounts of Clostebol in his doping sample was due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his own finger — was accepted.

Sinner won the US Open in September after details of his case were revealed. It had been kept confidential since April because Sinner successfully appealed against being provisionally banned from playing.

The 23-year-old Italian has faced skepticism from other players, including Novak Djokovic, who have suggested he got preferential treatment from tennis authorities.

The repeated questioning about the case has followed Sinner to Melbourne this week where he is preparing to defend his Australian Open title.

WADA has asked CAS to ban Sinner for between one and two years.