Marta Kostyuk was forced to retire during her opening match at the Ningbo Open, and the result means the Race to qualify for the 2026 WTA Finals is now over.
After receiving a first round bye at the WTA 500 tournament, No 3 seed Kostyuk began her campaign against 33rd-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round on Wednesday.
Kostyuk retired due to injury after losing the first set 6-4 against her 31-year-old Russian opponent, having been broken in the opening game.
The world No 10 has been dealing with a right wrist injury that forced her to miss the China Open, while she lost her opening match at last week’s Wuhan Open to Maria Sakkari.
The Ukrainian star began the week 10th in the WTA Race to Indian Wells rankings — 815 points adrift of Karolina Muchova, who occupied the final qualification spot.
Kostyuk needed to at least reach the final in Ningbo to keep her hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals alive, but her second round exit has allowed Muchova to secure the final place.
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Iga Swiatek, who is ninth in the Race, was also in contention until she withdrew from the Ningbo Open and ended her 2026 season due to injury.
This is the first time that Muchova — the current world No 7 — has qualified for the WTA Finals.
The Czech has enjoyed an impressive 2026 campaign, having won the WTA 1000 event in Qatar and the WTA 500 in Bad Homburg.
The 30-year-old was also a runner-up to her compatriot Linda Noskova at Wimbledon — her second Grand Slam final after she was beaten by Swiatek at the 2023 French Open. She also lost to Elena Rybakina in the Stuttgart Open final in April.
Muchova was beaten by Diana Shnaider in the third round in Wuhan in her most recent match, and she is not playing a tournament this week.
The other seven players to qualify for this year’s WTA Finals are: Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova.
The 2026 WTA Finals will be held in Indian Wells, United States between 8 and 15 November.
It was originally due to be staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — the host city for the 2024 and 2025 editions — but it was moved due to safety concerns.
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