Kiki Bertens to miss Australian Open following Achilles tendon surgery

As Stephanie Livaudais wrote for the WTA website, the 28-year-old from Holland dealt with Achilles discomfort throughout the 2020 season. Bertens then opted to skip the US Open due to fears related to the coronavirus pandemic and the required quarantine period she would've faced following the tournament.

Bertens did compete in the French Open that was postponed to the fall because of the health crisis. She won her first three matches but suffered an upset loss to Martina Trevisan in the fourth round in what will be her last competitive action for some time. 

As Ben Morse noted for CNN, Bertens was accused by some of faking an injury at Roland-Garros after she required a wheelchair to leave the court following her second-round victory over Sara Errani. 

"After one hour, she's injured but then she's running around like never before," Errani said to reporters after the match. 

"She leaves the court in a chair and now she's in the locker room and eating in the restaurant, perfect. She exaggerated. It made me very angry. So, well done to her, but she can win without doing that."

Bertens explained that she dealt with cramps during the third set.