World No. 1 women's singles player Elena Rybakina will not compete at the WTA 1000 hard-court tournament in Wuhan, organizers announced, according to infohub.kz.
The tournament in China is scheduled for October 12–18. The Kazakh tennis player was initially seeded first, but organizers announced on Instagram Stories that she withdrew due to a foot injury. Rybakina was wished a speedy recovery.
"I'm very sorry to the fans who expected to see me play. I need some time to rest and recover. Thank you for your understanding and continued support! See you next year," Rybakina was quoted as saying.
Earlier, the Kazakh player began the WTA 1000 hard-court tournament in Beijing in the second round and immediately lost to Armenia's Alina Charaeva. After that, Rybakina made a statement about foot problems.
Last year, the world No. 1 reached the quarterfinals of the Wuhan tournament. As a result, she will lose 215 ranking points.