Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the upcoming WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which begins next week.
Zheng was scheduled to compete in Stuttgart for the third time in her career. Her best performance was last year when she reached the Round of 16, losing to Marta Kostyuk. Most recently, the World No. 8 reached the quarterfinals of the Credit One Charleston Open, where she was defeated by Ekaterina Alexandrova in her first clay-court tournament of the season.
Ons Jabeur and Barbora Krejcikova have also withdrawn from the tournament due to ongoing injuries. Jabeur is suffering from a leg injury, and Krejcikova continues to recover from a back injury.
Jabeur retired from her match against Jasmine Paolini at the Miami Open due to her leg problem. Krejcikova has not competed since reaching the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh last October.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a three-time Stuttgart finalist, and World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, a two-time champion, will still headline the event. The tournament will also feature the rest of the Top 5, including World No. 3 Jessica Pegula, World No. 4 Coco Gauff, and World No. 5 Mirra Andreeva. The projected Top 8 seeds are rounded out by Paolini, Emma Navarro, and Diana Shnaider.
Slovakia`s Rebecca Sramkova will take Zheng`s place in the main draw as a result of her withdrawal.
Rupert Caldwell