The 2026 Wuhan Open has been dealt another couple of blows as Chinese hero Zheng Qinwen has joined the list of big-name players to pull out of the WTA 1000 event.
Just hours after delighting her fans by winning her maiden WTA 1000 title, the China Open on home soil in Beijing, Zheng confirmed that she won’t feature in the second leg of the double-header in Wuhan.
“I’m very sorry to share that I will be withdrawing from this year’s Wuhan Open,” she said in a statement. “Wuhan is where my tennis dream began, and the Wuhan Open is also where I made my breakthrough at the WTA 1000 level. I have always looked forward to competing in front of my hometown fans.
“Since returning from injury … I have played a demanding stretch of tennis over the past month and a half, competing at the US Open, the Billie Jean King Cup, and the China Open.
“My body is feeling very fatigued after this intense run of matches.”
WTA News
The 2024 Australian Open runner-up has been in brilliant form recently as, after dropping out of the top 100 in the WTA Rankings, she bounced back by reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open after coming through qualifying.
She followed it up with a title run at the China Open with her latest result helping her to return to the top 30 in the rankings.
Zheng defeated new world No 3 Mirra Andreeva in straight sets on Sunday and the reigning French Open champion will also not feature in Wuhan as she also cited fatigue after her run to the final in Beijing.
Those withdrawals came not long after reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova withdrew due to a calf injury.
Andreeva and Noskova’s no shows led to a change in the draw as Andreeva was seeded third and had a bye into the second round, but she will now be replaced by Iva Jovic on Line 17 with the American heading into the second round.
Belinda Bencic was seeded ninth, but she takes Noskova’s spot on the draw sheet and also earns bye while Zheng was not seeded.
Full list of Wuhan Open withdrawals
- Elena Rybakina (world No 1) → replaced by Liudmila Samsonova
- Mirra Andreeva (world No 3) → replaced by Anna Bondar
- Coco Gauff (world No 5) → replaced by Kimberly Birrell
- Linda Noskova (world No 8) → replaced by Magdalena Frech
- Victoria Mboko (world No 15) → replaced by Cristina Bucșa
- Amanda Anisimova (world No 17) → replaced by Anhelina Kalinina
- Naomi Osaka (world No 18) → replaced by Katie Boulter
- Madison Keys (world No 20) → replaced by Lilli Tagger
- Zheng Qinwen (world No 23) → replaced by Camila Osorio
- Anastasia Potapova (world No 26) → replaced by Janice Tjen
- Emma Navarro (world No 27) → replaced by Tamara Korpatsch
- Hailey Baptiste (world No 45) → replaced by Mayar Sherif
- Barbora Krejcikova (world No 46) → replaced by Zheng Qinwen
- Karolina Pliskova(world No 49) → replaced by Mayer Sherif
- Oleksandra Oliynykova (world No 51) → replaced by Lanlana Tararudee
The tournament, of course, also won’t feature world No 1 Elena Rybakina as she is out with a foot injury as well as defending champion Coco Gauff as the two-time Grand Slam winner opted not to compete following her exit from the China Open.
