Elena Rybakina is the biggest name to withdraw from the upcoming WTA 1000 event in Wuhan due to an ongoing foot issue.
Rybakina lost her first match back on tour following her US Open triumph after being beaten 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 by world 118 Alina Charaeva at the Beijing Open on Saturday.
Following her second-round loss, the 27-year-old revealed she has been struggling since her triumph in New York, particularly as the world No 1 missed the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last month.
She said, “Obviously it was a very tough day out there. There was a lot going on after the US Open victory. I didn’t get a lot of chances to sleep and recover. Congratulations to Alina. She played a very good match, and I felt my foot a little bit at the end of the match. So it’s time to rest a little bit and see what is next in the upcoming weeks.
“Thank you to all the fans for supporting and see you next year, Beijing. Next, I will take a week to rest and hopefully get my foot back to 100% so I can compete in the following tournaments to complete the 2026 season.”
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Rybakina has since withdrawn from Wuhan, with it yet to be known how long her break will be. She joins long-term absentees Victoria Mboko and Hailey Baptiste, both of whom are recovering from serious knee injuries, on the sidelines.
Earlier this week, former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova took to Instagram to state she needed time to “heal properly”, but was ending her season prematurely.
The Czech said it was “nothing serious” but after a busy 2026, the 34-year-old wants to come back fresh for the new season.
Another player who won’t play again this year is former top 10er Emma Navarro. The 25-year-old posted a brave statement on her social media channels to explain how she had been suffering with Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and the autoimmune disorder, Hashimoto’s hypothyrodisim.
As she comes to terms with this, she made a defiant remark in closing, saying, “I gained some weight this year. But I also gained my life back. I have enough energy to seize every day, to train or compete as hard as I want to, and to live a life outside of tennis.”
Former Wimbledon and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova is also out for the season with a wrist injury, while 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys has withdrawn from Wuhan, with the 31-year-old yet to reveal what is affecting her.
Considering the likes of Jessica Pegula (unspecified), Marta Kostyuk (wrist), Sorana Cirstea (calf), and more, pulled out of the Beijing Open, it remains to be seen if more withdrawals will emerge ahead of Wuhan.
Full list of Wuhan Open withdrawals:
- Elena Rybakina (world No 1) → replaced by Liudmila Samsonova
- Victoria Mboko (world No 14) → replaced by Cristina Bucșa
- Amanda Anisimova (world No 16) → replaced by Anhelina Kalinina
- Madison Keys (world No 22) → replaced by Lilli Tagger
- Emma Navarro (world No 25) → replaced by Tamara Korpatsch
- Hailey Baptiste (world No 44) → replaced by Mayar Sherif
- Karolína Plíšková (world No 48) → replaced by TBC
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