Russian star of tennis' 'most beautiful pairing' withdraws from Wimbledon singles - a day before their doubles campaign gets underway

Daily Mail​

01-07-2025

Russian star Anastasia Potapova - one half of the duo dubbed 'the most beautiful in tennis' has withdrawn with the Wimbledon women's singles draw.
The 24-year-old grabbed headlines earlier this month when she teamed up with Serbian player Olga Danilovic for just the second time in over five years to compete at Roland-Garros.
The eye-catching duo's run to the quarter-finals earned legions of new fans, with one Serbian outlet dubbing them the 'most beautiful' pairing 'of all time'.
Potapova had hoped to make her mark in the singles draw at the All England Club but has been forced to withdraw from the competition ahead of her first round clash against the Pole Magdalena Frech.
Canadian's Vicky Mboko, a qualifier who won two matches at Roland-Garros last month before being eliminated by Qiwen Zhang in the Round of 32, has replaced her in the draw.
Potapova had been hoping to turnaround her recent singles fortunes, having failed to make the quarter-finals in any of her last nine competitions. She also suffered mid-event injury-related withdrawals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart in April and the German Open last month.
The reason for her withdrawal at Wimbledon has not been disclosed.
Her absence will come as a major blow to fans and raise concern that she will not be able to partner Danilovic in London, with the women's draw getting underway on Wednesday.
Potapova and Danilovic have been drawn against Alexandra Eala and Eva Lys in the first round.
Both Danilovic and Potapova were able to extend their time in Paris with a run in the doubles, with neither of the pair making the second week in the singles draw.
Danilovic, 23, is a fine talent who has been nurtured in part by her compatriot and Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic.
The pair have played United Cup doubles representing their home country together, and has described Djokovic as her 'hero'.
In a twist of fate, Danilovic beat Potapova at the age of 17 to claim her first junior singles title in Moscow over six years ago, and since then, the world No 37 has claimed a number of eye-catching wins at Grand Slams.
The Serbian beat US No 1 Jessica Pegula at the Australian Open, who was seeded seventh in Melbourne.
The athletes cut a striking dash in the dirt in their matching Nike dark maroon tennis dresses in paris
But on the red clay of Paris, world No1 Aryna Sabalenka proved too challenging an opponent for the younger woman, who was downed 6-2, 6-3 in the third round.
Potapova was stopped one round earlier after her first-round defeat of No 29 seed Linda Noskova as she lost to the Ukrainian Yulia Starodubtseva in straight sets.
After their Paris exit, both Danilovic and Potapova seemed delighted with their travails, with Danilovic sharing a sweet message of support to her team-mate.
'Love sharing the court with you (heart emoji),' Danilovic wrote on her Instagram Stories as she shared a picture of them playing with the caption: 'This brunette-blondie energy (lightning bolt emoji).'
Both athletes cut stylish figures on the court sporting the same Nike dark maroon tennis dress and bright white visors.
Danilovic and Potapova's partnership has had just two previous outings, with the pair debuting in 2019 at the Brisbane Open.