Canada's best hope of a Wimbledon women's singles title has ended before the tournament even begins.
Victoria Mboko, the ninth seed, will miss the third Grand Slam of the season and the entire grass-court season due to an MCL injury in her left knee, she announced on Instagram Friday.
"I am receiving the best medical care and my team and I are focused on a return to court as soon as possible," Mboko wrote. "Thank you to everyone who has reached out and sent messages of support, I am so grateful to you all!"
Mboko sustained the injury at Queen's Club on Wednesday after an awkward fall in her singles match against Karolina Pliskova.
The 19-year-old from Burlington, Ont., got up on her own but then told a physiotherapist there was “no stability right now."
It was Mboko's first singles match on grass this season. The injury also forced her out of the women's doubles draw at Queen's Club, where she was competing alongside Serena Williams.
Mboko reached the second round in her Wimbledon debut last year. She won at least two matches in each of the first two majors this year, including a career-best fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open.
She is scheduled to defend her title at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto in August.
--with files from The Canadian Press
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