Tennis: Zheng Qinwen withdraws from WTA Stuttgart Open due to injury; Top four in fray
Stuttgart, April 8 (IANS) China’s Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from next week’s WTA 500 event in Stuttgart due to injury, the tournament organisers announced on Wednesday. The main draw of the Stuttgart Open will be held from April 13 to 19 and will involve some of the world’s top players.
Zheng’s withdrawal from the Stuttgart Open means her clay-court debut of the 2026 season will be delayed. Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, currently ranked world No. 46, will replace Zheng Qinwen in the main draw, reports Xinhua.
In a statement, the Stuttgart Open said: “We wish Qinwen a speedy recovery and hope to see her back on the court in Stuttgart very soon.”
Zheng’s most recent tournament appearance came at the WTA 1000 Miami Open in March, where she lost 6-3, 6-4 to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the fourth round and missed out on a place in the quarterfinals.
Known as the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the Stuttgart Open was held on indoor hard courts from 1978 to 2008. Held a few weeks before the French Open at Roland Garros, the Stuttgart Open has been contested on indoor clay courts since 2009. The state-of-the-art Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, has hosted this tournament since 2006.
The event has a total commitment of $1,206,446, and the singles main draw will include 28 direct entries, while the doubles draw will have 16 teams competing.
This year’s event will have the world’s top four-ranked players – Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff.
Other Top 10 players set to return to Stuttgart are the two-time Grand Slam runner-up Jasmine Paolini (No. 7), the 19-time WTA winner Elina Svitolina (No. 8) plus Mirra Andreeva (No. 10), one of the 2025 season’s biggest risers. Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, will be back competing in the Porsche Arena as the title holder.
Barbora Krejcikova, the winner of the Grand Slams in Paris (2021) and at Wimbledon (2024), and Qinwen Zheng will be continuing their comebacks in Stuttgart after injury. The circle of favourites also includes the world No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova, together with Linda Noskova. One week ago, the world No. 13 reached the semifinals of the renowned WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells.
–IANS
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