Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from the Ningbo Open with a left thigh problem and ended her 2026 season. The six-time Grand Slam champion’s exit closes her bid for the last WTA Finals place, leaving Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk to settle the eighth spot in Indian Wells.
Ningbo, China: The second seed never reached the court. Swiatek pulled out of the BNB Ningbo Open on Tuesday, 20 October, before she had played a match, and announced that she had “decided to end my season here”. Alternate Anastasia Zakharova took her place in the draw, and the world No. 9 will not compete again in 2026.
A thigh problem that would not clear
Swiatek said she had been dealing with an ongoing problem in her left thigh “over the past weeks” and had withdrawn after careful consideration. The trouble had already shown itself in Wuhan, where she took a medical timeout and then lost the semi-final to fellow Pole Maja Chwalinska, 7-5, 6-1. The Wuhan defeat turned out to be her last match of the year.
Neither her statement nor the WTA’s announcement gave a diagnosis, a severity or a return date. Swiatek framed the decision as time to rest and recover, and said she plans to be back next season.
The Finals race loses its best-known chaser
The withdrawal ends her realistic hopes of reaching the WTA Finals, which open in Indian Wells on 8 November. Seven players are already through to the eight-woman singles field: Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova.
For the last place, Muchova held the lead, with Swiatek about 550 points adrift in the Race before she pulled out. Muchova is not playing Ningbo. Kostyuk, the third seed here, is the remaining contender, and she would need a big finish across Ningbo and next week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to overhaul the Czech.
A year of one title and few deep runs
Swiatek’s season was far from the dominance of her best years. Her only title came in Toronto, where she beat Rybakina 6-2, 6-3 in the National Bank Open final. At the majors she lost in the Australian Open quarter-finals to Rybakina, fell in the third round at Wimbledon to Alexandra Eala while defending her title, and went out of the US Open fourth round against Zheng Qinwen after letting a 5-0 lead slip.
The Asian swing brought a quarter-final in Beijing, where she rallied from 6-4, 5-2 down against Donna Vekic in the third round, and the semi-final in Wuhan.
What comes next
The Ningbo draw moves on without her, and the Finals picture should become clearer once Kostyuk’s two remaining events are played. For Swiatek, the focus shifts to a full off-season, with the stated aim of returning healthy in 2027.
