Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen has pulled out of the upcoming Porsche Tennis Grand Prix WTA 500 event in Stuttgart, scheduled for next week.
This was planned to be Zheng`s third appearance in Stuttgart. Last year, she achieved her best result at this tournament, reaching the round of 16 where she lost a close match to Marta Kostyuk. In her most recent tournament, the world number 8 Zheng was defeated by Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals of the Credit One Charleston Open. This marked her third consecutive quarterfinal appearance and her first clay-court tournament of the season. Previously, she had won 13 clay-court matches in a row.
Ons Jabeur and Barbora Krejcikova are also withdrawing from Stuttgart due to ongoing leg and back injuries, respectively.
Jabeur had to retire from her Miami Open third-round match against Jasmine Paolini because of her leg issue. Krejcikova has been absent from competition since the WTA Finals in Riyadh last October, where she reached the semifinals.
The Stuttgart tournament will still feature a strong lineup, including world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a three-time finalist here, and world number 2 Iga Swiatek, a two-time champion. The top 5 is completed by Jessica Pegula (World No. 3), Coco Gauff (World No. 4), and Mirra Andreeva (World No. 5). The projected top 8 seeds will also include Jasmine Paolini, Emma Navarro, and Diana Shnaider, who will have Dinara Safina, former world No. 1, as her new coach at the tournament.
As a result of Zheng`s withdrawal, Rebecca Sramkova from Slovakia will now enter the main draw.
