Sunday marked the start of main draw play at the 2016 Apia International in Sydney and unfortunately, the first day of the tournament was plagued by injuries as the tournament lost several big names even before they stepped onto the court.
In the morning, freshly-crowned Brisbane champion Karolina Pliskova announced her withdrawal from the event, following by Elina Svitolina’s exit from the event, just hours before her match against Monica Puig. The two withdrawals were later joined by Sloane Stephens who won’t be playing a match in Sydney either.
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic got a step further as the Swiss Hopman Cup player started her match against Yulia Putintseva, only to suffer a painful toe nail problem halfway during her match, causing her to retire as well.