World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has pulled out of the China Open, a WTA 1000 event one rung below the Grand Slams, “due to personal matters”.
Swiatek has not played since losing in the US Open quarterfinals to Jessica Pegula two weeks ago, having also withdrawn from this week’s Korea Open 500 event.
She won’t be part of Poland’s squad for the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November in order to give herself a proper off-season, and now won’t travel to Beijing for the China Open, which begins next week.
On Friday morning, Swiatek issued a statement saying that: “Due to personal matters, I’m forced to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing. I’m very sorry as I had an amazing time playing and winning this tournament last year and was really looking forward to being back there.”
A representative for Swiatek indicated that she is targeting a return at the Wuhan Open, a 1000 event that starts immediately after Beijing finishes.
Swiatek, despite her healthy lead at the top of the WTA rankings, has struggled since winning her fourth French Open title in June. Since then she has not reached a final in the four events she has played, and spoke at the Cincinnati Open in August about tennis’s jam-packed schedule risking burnout for the players.
“It’s not going to end well. It makes tennis less fun for us,” she said. ‘I love playing in all these places, but it’s pretty exhausting and most of the WTA players would tell you that, especially when you’re playing at a high level.”
Swiatek has cited the increased number of mandatory events and the challenge of two-week 1,000 tournaments (of which the China Open is one). Though at the U.S. Open she rejected the idea that she would benefit from a break.
“I don’t think it would make sense,” she said. “If you’re out of tour, then it’s pretty hard to come back… I’m ready for playing till November, I guess, unless I’m going to get injured.”
In Swiatek’s absence, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka has the chance to almost halve the Pole’s 2169-point lead at the top of the rankings (the Beijing Open winner will take home 1,000 points). Sabalenka would also become the leader in the race to be the year-end No. 1, which only takes into account points gained in 2024.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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