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Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from the Ningbo Open just three days after she was left in tears in the middle of the Wuhan Open semi-final. The world No. 9 suffered a 7-5 6-1 defeat to countrywoman and eventual champion Maja Chwalinska, and received a medical timeout during the match. She then cried while speaking to her team early in the second set, and Swiatek’s physio has since confirmed that they told her to retire, but she wanted to see the match through. The Pole then headed to Ningbo for this week’s WTA 500 event, where she was the second seed, but she has now announced her withdrawal.
In a statement shared by the tournament, Swiatek said: “After careful consideration, I’ve decided to withdraw from the tournament. 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 organisers and everyone who was hoping to see me play. I’m already looking forward to coming back next year!”
Swiatek played through her thigh injury in Wuhan last week, but it bothered her during her semi-final defeat. The 25-year-old led 5-3 in the first set and had set points on her own serve, but she lost 10 of the last 11 games to Chwalinska.
Afterwards, the former world No. 1 admitted that she didn’t want to retire, so her countrywoman could have her moment and properly win the match. “From the beginning of the tournament, I kind of felt pain in my quad,” Swiatek said.
“I've been able to manage that day by day and we were already thinking of withdrawing after I played with Magda [Frech] in the first round but I was quite able to play normal, so I wanted to push, and we knew that it's nothing like that it's gonna get worse or something, so in that case, you just need to block it out.
“But today was just too much, and that's unfortunate because I felt like we're playing great tennis and wanted to continue. Later on, I knew it's going to be tough to win, but I didn't want to honestly retire because wanted Maja to win it normally.”
Swiatek’s withdrawal from the Ningbo Open means that she cannot qualify for the WTA Finals. The six-time Grand Slam champion made five straight appearances at the season-ending championships from 2021 to 2025, and won the tournament in 2023.
Anastasia Zakharova has come into the main draw as a lucky loser and takes Swiatek’s bye directly into the second round. She will face Marie Bouzkova.
Swiatek is still on the entry list for next week’s WTA 500 event in Tokyo, but it remains to be seen whether she plays now that she is no longer in contention for a WTA Finals spot.
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