Iga Świątek has decided to take a longer break after her unsuccessful US Open. Not only did she withdraw from the competition in Seoul, but it was recently announced that she will not be playing in the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing due to personal reasons. “I am very sad because I had an amazing time playing and winning this tournament last year. I couldn't wait to come back. I know the fans will experience great tennis there and I am sorry that I will not be a part of it this time” – informed in a statement. The favorite to win is therefore Aryna Sabalenka, who is riding a wave of 12 victories in a row.
Great news for Sabalenka. She couldn't have imagined a better bracket in Beijing
“Before the start of the competition in Beijing, the advantage of the Pole over the Belarusian had diminished to about 2,100 points. Given that Świątek will irrevocably lose 1,000 points, and Sabalenka is defending 'only' 215 points from last year's quarterfinal, if the Belarusian wins the tournament, she may lose about 300-400 points to Iga” – explained Aleksander Bernard, a journalist from Sport.pl.
The Polish player's withdrawal is great news for Sabalenka, who reacted quickly. Of course, she will be seeded “one”, which is why she received a bye in the first round. In the next stage, she will face a competitor from the qualifiers, and then she may face Lulu Sun, Ashlyn Krueger or Yafan Wang. The real challenges will start only from the fourth round, in which her potential rivals will be Beatriz Haddad Maia or Madison Keys. Apart from the Belarusian, the highest seeded competitors are Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini and Coco Gauff.
Magdalena Fręch and Magda Linette also had very good draws. The former, occupying a high 31st place in the WTA ranking, secured a bye in the first round, while the latter took advantage of numerous withdrawals. Fręch will therefore play Qiang Wang or a player from the qualifiers in the second stage, while Linette will face Moyuka Uchijima or Han Shi. Both matches will take place on September 27 or 28.
Hubert Hurkacz, on the other hand, may not be too happy with the draw. If he beats Marcos Giron in the first round, he will probably face Jack Draper in the second. The Briton recently reached the semi-finals of the US Open, where he lost only to the world ranking leader Jannik Sinner. Our player will face a big challenge, especially since we don't even know who his coach will be..