Belinda Bencic missed out on a chance to qualify for the WTA Finals after falling ill with food poisoning at the Guadalajara Open AKRON in September.

The reigning Olympic champion last competed at the San Diego Open in mid-September where she lost to qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 in the first round. Prior to this, Bencic was eliminated in the second round of the US Open, losing to Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 3-6. 

However, the Swiss player had experienced a solid season overall and thus was eleventh in the race to the WTA Finals, which are set to take place in Cancun, Mexico, from October 29 - November 5.

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Therefore, she had a chance to make up some ground with some good results on the Asian Swing, which could have seen her book a spot in the Top 8 alongside the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff.

Bencic's illness puts her out of contention for Cancun 

Unfortunately for the World No. 15, she suffered from food poisoning while preparing to compete at the Guadalajara Open AKRON in late September, forcing her to withdraw from her first-round clash with Taylor Townsend.

This caused her to be sick for over a week and she consequently had to pull out of the whole Asian leg of the WTA Tour, thus dashing her hopes of reaching the WTA Finals. Her management recently revealed the reason for her sickness.

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"She was sick for ten days and lost a good part of her fitness. The China tour therefore came too early," they told Keystone-SDA.

After recent developments at the China Open in Beijing, the entry list for the WTA Finals has been confirmed, with Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Marketa Vondrousova, Ons Jabeur, and Karolina Muchova all making it through to the prestigious season-ending championship.

Melanie Lautrup

@melanie_lautrup

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Belinda Bencic's food poisoning in Guadalajara made her sick for 10 days where she couldn't train & had to miss the Asian Swing

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