Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday because of a right foot injury.
Azarenka, coming off a title this past weekend at the Qatar Open, was the top seed in Dubai. She hurt her foot while winning last week's tournament.
"It happened last week," Azarenka said in a statement released through the tournament. "I have been obviously playing on it a lot, so going to a new tournament is too much to handle right now. It keeps getting worse. It was an unfortunate decision that I had to make, and obviously I'm very disappointed with that."
Despite a 14-0 match record to start the season, a second straight Australian Open championship and a victory over Serena Williams in the Qatar final, Azarenka was supplanted by Williams as the top-ranked player in women's tennis on Monday.
Williams is seeded second this week and, because of Azarenka's withdrawal, will retain the No. 1 ranking for at least another week.
Azarenka's place in the draw will be filled by lucky loser Carla Suarez Navarro.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.