In an early blow for Czech Republic, Lucie Safarova has pulled out of the 28^th edition of the Hopman Cup scheduled to be held between January 3-9 at the Perth Arena in Australia.

The 9^th-ranked Safarova took it to her official Twitter account to share the news of her withdrawal from the mixed-team event. “Unfortunately my health complications continue and I had to cancel Hopman Cup.;-(I will do my best to be back asap! (sic),” she wrote.

PLISKOVA NAMED REPLACEMENT

Karolina Pliskova, who rose to No. 11 in the world rankings after an impressive 2015 season, has been named as Safarova’s replacement, and will don the Czech colors alongside Jiri Vesely.

The Czechs have been placed in group ‘A’ together with the United States of America, Australia Gold, and Ukraine as the other teams.