China Open withdrawals: 20 players OUT as Alex Eala, Jessica Pegula headline star-studded list

Ewan West 30 Sep 2026 5:00 PM

Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova and Alex Eala

The 2026 China Open is now underway, and the number of players who have withdrawn from the hard-court WTA 1000 tournament has climbed to 20.

Main draw action at the National Tennis Center in Beijing began on Wednesday, and the 12-day women’s event will conclude on Sunday 11 October.

The China Open is the ninth of 10 WTA 1000 events in the season, and it is the first big women’s tournament after the US Open.

The WTA Asian swing started last week with the concurrent 500 tournaments in Singapore and Seoul.

A total of 17 players pulled out of the China Open women’s tournament before the draw was made on Monday.

Eight of these players would have been seeded: Jessica Pegula, Marta Kostyuk, Amanda Anisimova, Victoria Mboko, Sorana Cirstea, Alex Eala, Madison Keys and Emma Navarro.

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Pegula, Kostyuk, Anisimova, Mboko, Cirstea, Keys and Navarro all pulled out due to injuries, while Eala chose to compete at the ongoing Asian Games instead.

Anisimova, who was the defending champion in the Chinese capital, has been forced to end her 2026 season due to a wrist injury.

Mayar Sherif, the world No 52, became the latest woman to withdraw from Beijing — and third since the draw was made. The Egyptian’s place has been taken by Ma Yexin.