Zheng Qinwen joins Ons Jabeur and Barbora Krejcikova to pull out of Stuttgart Open

China’s Zheng Qinwen becomes the latest high-profile player to withdraw from the upcoming Stuttgart Open. The WTA 500 event will be played next week, and some of the top players will be featured, and they will battle to secure the ultimate prize.

As per the latest report on WTA’s official website, Qinwen has become the latest high-profile player to skip the mega-event. It is not clear why the 22-year-old decided not to take part in the event. Because of her withdrawal, Rebecca Sramkova has now entered the main draw of the competition.

Last year, she was knocked out after losing in the round of 16 to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Her most recent appearance was at the Charleston Open, where she was knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-4.

Other high-profile players who are not taking part in the competition are Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur and the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova. Both players are suffering with fitness problems and therefore, decided to withdraw from the competition.

Jabeur’s last appearance was at the Miami Open, where she was forced to retire from the round of 32 in the match against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini. On the other hand, Krejcikova has not played in any event this year. Her last appearance was at the WTA Finals last year in Riyadh, where she lost in the semifinal to Qinwen in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-5.

Despite the withdrawal of three famous players, the competition will still have a lot of appeal to it with the presence of the likes of world number one Aryna Sabalenka, world number two Poland’s Iga Swiatek, number three-ranked America’s Jessica Pegula and number four ranked Coco Gauff. One-time Grand Slam winner Elena Rybakina won the competition last year after beating Kostyuk in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2.