World No. 6 Amanda Anisimova withdrew from the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome ahead of her opening match because of a left wrist injury, pulling her out of a second-round meeting with Jelena Ostapenko on Thursday. Lucky loser Elena Gabriela Ruse moved into the draw in her place.
The withdrawal extends a difficult stretch for Anisimova, who had yet to play on clay this season and has now been forced off the court again after a series of injury-related interruptions. She pulled out of the Credit One Charleston Open in late March because of an undisclosed injury she sustained in Miami, then withdrew from the Mutua Madrid Open two weeks later with a wrist injury.
Before Rome, Anisimova most recently played Indian Wells and Miami, reaching the Round of 16 in both events. She is 11-6 on the season, with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open in January followed by semifinals in Dubai a month later. Since that result in Dubai, she has played only six matches, a thin workload for a player who was last year's Most Improved Player.
The timing also matters because Rome had already been thinned by other absences. Marta Kostyuk withdrew earlier in the week with a right hip injury, and Emma Raducanu also pulled out of the Italian Open with a post-viral illness. For Anisimova, the latest setback comes shortly after she and coach Hendrik Vleeshouwers mutually parted ways following the Miami Open, leaving her to manage both form and fitness at a key point in the clay season.
Her 2025 season has shown enough to suggest she can still trouble the top of the draw, but the injuries have kept breaking the rhythm. The question now is whether she can get healthy in time to build momentum before the French Open window tightens.
