Iga Swiatek led her Wuhan semifinal 5-3 with two set points on Saturday, then called for treatment on her left thigh at 5-6. Three days later the same thigh took her out of the Ningbo Open before she had played a match there. The second seed withdrew from the WTA 500 event on Tuesday, and Anastasia Zakharova, an alternate, took her place in the draw.
“After careful consideration, I’ve decided to withdraw from the tournament,” Swiatek said. “I’ve been experiencing an ongoing problem with my left thigh over the past weeks and I feel that giving myself the time to rest and recover is the right decision. I was really looking forward to competing here and I want to thank the tournament organizers and everyone who was hoping to see me play. I’m already looking forward to coming back next year!”
The match in Wuhan turned on that first set. After the timeout Maja Chwalinska took it 7-5, won the second 6-1 and went on to win the title on Sunday. Chwalinska will not play Ningbo either: she withdrew with a left thigh injury of her own.
The race. Seven players have qualified for the WTA Finals at Indian Wells: Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova. The last place belongs, for now, to Karolina Muchova, seventh in the Race on 4,735 points. Swiatek is ninth on 4,189 and Marta Kostyuk 10th on 3,920.
Swiatek can no longer close that gap herself. Once Ningbo is over, the only events still counting toward the Race are Tokyo and Guangzhou next week. A Tokyo title is worth 500 points, which would take her to 4,689 at most, still short of the total Muchova already has. Muchova is not playing this week.
That leaves Kostyuk. Going into the week, Muchova was certain of the place if Swiatek failed to reach the Ningbo quarterfinals and Kostyuk failed to reach the final. The first condition was met the moment Swiatek withdrew. Kostyuk, the third seed, has a first-round bye and opens against Hanyu Guo or Ekaterina Alexandrova. A run to Saturday’s final would carry the race into Tokyo, where she is on the entry list.
What it means. Swiatek has qualified for the WTA Finals every year since 2021. If the standings hold, she finishes as the first player outside the field, the position the WTA designates as first alternate. That role put Maria Sakkari into the 2023 field when Muchova withdrew with a wrist injury five days before play began.
For how the WTA picks a player to fill a place, see our WTA Finals qualification explainer and our guide to the Race to the WTA Finals. On Monday the race for the last place looked like a three-way chase; by Tuesday it was Kostyuk against a total that is not moving.
What’s next. Rybakina, the world No. 1 and defending champion, is the top seed in Ningbo. Kostyuk’s second-round match comes mid-week, with the final on Saturday. The Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo runs from 26 October to 1 November, and the WTA Finals are played at Indian Wells from 8 to 15 November. Our Ningbo Open guide and Pan Pacific Open guide cover both events.
