© Getty Images Sport – Yanshan Zhang
Elena Rybakina has decided to pull out of the Zhengzhou Open. Rybakina, ranked at No 5 in the world, was scheduled to be one of the biggest names competing in next week’s WTA 500 event in Zhengzhou. Unfortunately for the tournament organizers, their 2023 tournament edition won’t feature 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina.
This week, Rybakina played her first tournament since the US Open and she made a deep run at a WTA 1000 event in Beijing. In the Chinese capital, Rybakina made the semifinal before Liudmila Samsonova upset her 7-6 (7) 6-3. After suffering a Beijing semifinal loss on Saturday, Rybakina decided to skip Zhengzhou.
Rybakina battled illness during and after the US Open
After suffering a surprise US Open third-round defeat and withdrawing from last week’s WTA 500 event in Tokyo, Rybakina finally returned to action in Beijing.
At the start of her week in Beijing, Rybakina revealed that she got sick around the US Open and it took her a couple of weeks to recover. “Well, for sure I’m focusing now just to play a little bit more matches because unfortunately I got sick again, and maybe no one…
