Full list of players who have withdrawn from the WTA Qatar Open 2024

Published at :February 14, 2024 at 12:47 AM

Modified at :February 27, 2024 at 9:25 PM

(Courtesy : AFP)

Australian Open champion Sabalenka has also withdrawn from the tournament

With the WTA tour now amid the Middle East segment, there has been a flurry of withdrawals from many well-known names and top-ranked players for a variety of reasons. The WTA Qatar Open 2024 is underway in Doha, and next up is the Dubai Duty-Free Championships in the city of the same name. From injuries to maternity breaks, the reasons are many.

Here are some of the notable absentees from the WTA 1000 event in Qatar.

Aryna Sabalenka

The most high-profile absentee is the 2024 Australian Open champion and World No. 2, Aryna Sabalenka. Aryna Sabalenka has opted to skip the Qatar Open for the second consecutive year, allowing the current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek to build on her lead at the top of the WTA Rankings. The Belarusian trails Swiatek by 395 points, and should the Pole win at Doha, she will add on another 1000 points to her existing lead. As defending champion, the World No. 1 will see her points trimmed by 470 from her existing haul of 9770 points.

The 25-year-old has revealed that she is looking for time to recover from her match-winning efforts at Melbourne Park while pulling out of the first WTA 1000 event of the 2024 season.

Mirra Andreeva

Mirra Andreeva, the Russian teenager, made the world sit up and take notice when she humbled Ons Jabeur in straight sets in round two. Andreeva won the match, 6-0, 6-2. In her match against Diane Parry, Andreeva pulled off a great escape, coming back from the brink of defeat in the third set tiebreak to win 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(5). She reached the fourth round in her maiden appearance at Melbourne, bowing out to Barbora Krejcikova in a three-setter.

The 16-year-old has reached a career-high ranking of 33 in what is just her second year as a professional tennis player. Her elder sister, Erika Andreeva, will be gracing the courts at Doha instead.

Jessica Pegula

Jessica Pegula will be out of the 2024 Qatar Open and the 2024 Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. The World No. 5 withdrew from both tournaments, citing a neck injury. Pegula made an early exit at this year’s Australian Open, falling in the second round to France’s Clara Burel, 6-4, 6-2.

The unfortunate result of the withdrawal will be a loss of valuable ranking points due to her absence from the two high-profile events. Pegula has already lost the 4th spot in the WTA rankings to Elena Rybakina. Pegula was a finalist at Doha last year, losing to Iga Swiatek, and a semifinalist at Dubai, where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova.

Jessica Pegula, on the entry list of players for the San Diego Open beginning February 26, is joined by compatriot Madison Keys among the list of players to withdraw from the Doha event. Keys is dealing with a lingering shoulder injury and had to skip the 2024 Australian Open as well.

Petra Kvitova

Czech player Petra Kvitova will be absent for the foreseeable future after announcing her pregnancy prior to the 2024 Australian Open. She sat out of the year’s first Grand Slam and will be out of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, too. The two-time Wimbledon champion married coach Jiri Vanek in 2023 and is expecting her first child. Joining Kvitova on an indefinite maternity break is Swiss player Belinda Bencic.

Bencic announced her pregnancy in 2023 and will not be there to defend her Olympic gold at the upcoming Paris Olympics. The Swiss won the Olympic gold at Tokyo four years ago.

Karolina Muchova

Karolina Muchova’s battle with her ailing wrist continues into 2024. She picked up the injury at last year’s U.S. Open during her semifinal run at the season’s last major slam. The 2023 Roland Garros finalist’s preparation was affected by the nagging injury which has led to her withdrawing from the WTA 1000 event at Doha. The World No. 10 is likely to be out of contention for the Dubai Championships as well.The Czech tennis player climbed back from a world ranking of 149 at the end of 2022 to a career-high ranking of World No. 8 by September 2023, only to be sidelined again in the ongoing 2024 season.

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