New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) Wimbledon champion and world No. 6 Linda Noskova has announced her withdrawing from the Wuhan Open, citing a left calf injury.
Since Noskova withdrew before the release of the first order of play, No. 9 seed Belinda Bencic — the next available seeded player to receive a bye — takes Noskova’s spot on Line 48 of the draw and will have a bye into the second round.
Anna Kalinskaya, the next available player to be seeded then assumes Bencic’s spot on Line 9 in the draw and will face Zhang Shuai in the first round. Kalinskaya’s original spot will be replaced a lucky loser tomorrow before the start of play. To see an updated singles main draw, click here, according to WTA.
The Wuhan Open’s main draw begins on Monday with the finals on October 18.
Noskova is the latest player to miss Wuhan, joining World No. 1 Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Amanda Anisimova and others. In addition, Oleksandra Oliynykova also pulled out Sunday with a right ankle injury, and was replaced by a qualifier, Aoi Ito.
Noskova’s withdrawal from Wuhan Open came a few days after she, alongside Mirra Andreeva, qualified for her first-ever WTA Finals, which will be held at Indian Wells from November 8-15.
The WTA on Friday announced that Andreeva and Noskova, two of the most exciting young players on the WTA Tour, have secured qualification for the WTA Finals Indian Wells.
Andreeva, 19, and 21-year-old Noskova are the third and fourth players to confirm their place to compete on tennis’ ultimate stage in November. They join World No. 1 Elena Rybakina and two-time WTA Finals runner-up Aryna Sabalenka in the draw.
Both Andreeva and Noskova will make their WTA Finals singles debuts, with Andreeva having qualified in doubles alongside Diana Shnaider in 2025.
In addition to her first Grand Slam title, Noskova also triumphed on grass at the WTA 500 Berlin Open, made the semifinals at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells and posted her best result at the US Open with a quarterfinal run.
–IANS
bc/hs
