Caroline Wozniacki, the former world number one, was forced to withdraw from her quarterfinal match at the Bad Homburg Open on Thursday due to a knee injury. The Danish wildcard was playing against third-seeded American Emma Navarro and had won the opening set when she fell and appeared to hurt her knee. The 33-year-old, a former Australian Open champion, was trailing 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 when she retired. This injury comes as Wozniacki has her sights set on Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, where she also holds a wildcard entry.
In other news, Spain’s former world number two, Paula Badosa, also a wildcard entrant, struggled with double faults and was outplayed by Russian Diana Shnaider’s powerful second serve in the second set. Badosa ultimately fell 6-3, 7-6(3) to Shnaider, who will now face Navarro in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Croatia’s Donna Vekic secured a spot in the last four after receiving a walkover when Czech defending champion Katerina Siniakova pulled out due to a hip injury. Vekic will now face Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, who fought back from five match points in the final set tiebreak to defeat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(9) later on Thursday.