Singapore Open withdrawals: Grand Slam champion becomes the 11th name to pull out

Liam McMillen 23 Sep 2026 9:00 AM

The Singapore Open is the first WTA Tour tournament on the Asian swing, but it’s been struck by an irregular amount of withdrawals so far.

The Asian swing is often tough for players so soon after the US Open, particularly with the travelling, time difference, and general fatigue at this stage of the season.

As such, several seeds for the event have already dropped out, including Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, and Diana Shnaider.

Despite the tournament being well underway, stars continue to drop out of the contest.

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Barbora Krejcikova has become the latest star to withdraw from the tournament and she has done so after winning her first round match at the WTA tournament.

The two-time Grand Slam champion has withdrawn from her round of 16 match against defending champion Elise Mertens due to a lower back injury.

As a result, Mertens has earned a place in the quarter finals of the event without playing a single match. She will play Roland Garros breakout star Maja Chwalinska for a spot in the semifinals.

The top two seeds at the event are now Alex Eala and Mirra Andreeva and they look the heavy favourites to make their way to the final of the competition.

Andreeva will play Aliaksandra Sasnovich in her opening round match, while Eala plays Tatiana Prozorova for a place in the last eight of the tournament.

Both women are unlikely to get a better opportunity to win a WTA 500 tournament such is the amount of withdrawals the event has seen already.

Andreeva, in particular, can win the tournament without playing a single star currently ranked inside the top 10 of the WTA Tour rankings, after Pegula’s withdrawal at the start of the week.

The highest ranked player she will play to reach the final is Mertens, who currently sits at world No 19. As for Eala, world No 33 Maria Sakkari is currently looking to be her highest ranked opponent before the final.