Azarenka, Kerber pull out of Olympics

Angelique Kerber. Pic/AFP

Former World No. 1 and 2012 Olympic gold medallist Victoria Azarenka on Thursday became the latest Grand Slam winner to withdraw from the Tokyo Games, citing "challenges from the pandemic."

"I would like to inform everyone that I have made the very difficult decision to not play in the Tokyo Olympics," the Belarusian wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Angelique Kerber pulled out saying "my body needs rest." "The thought of participating in the Olympics has been a constant motivation for me over the past few moths," she wrote on Twitter.

"London 2012 and Rio 2016 as part of the German team has always been one of my favorite memories."

"That makes it even more disappointing for me to accept the fact that my body needs rest after the intense few weeks that lie behind me and that I have to recover first before returning to competition later this summer!" Kerber wrote.

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