Coco Gauff has announced her withdrawal from next week's Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open, as confirmed by the tournament on social media. Gauff expressed her disappointment, stating, "I’m disappointed to withdraw from Wuhan, especially as the defending champion. I always love playing there. After a long year, my body needs some time to rest and recover. I look forward to returning next year."
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Gauff, who won the title in Wuhan last year without losing a set, recently reached the fourth round in Beijing. Despite victories over Camila Osorio and junior World No. 1 Sun Xinran, she struggled in her match against Elise Mertens, committing 34 unforced errors and eight double faults in a 6-3, 6-3 loss. "I think I just didn’t play well. I wasn’t moving well. There were a lot of things I didn’t do well," Gauff remarked after the match. She is currently fifth on the PIF WTA Race to the Finals leaderboard.
Naomi Osaka is also withdrawing from the Wuhan Open. Like Gauff, Osaka reached the Round of 16 in Beijing, where she lost to Karolina Muchova in a match that lasted 2 hours and 52 minutes, with the scores 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7). Throughout the match, Osaka held leads in both the first and third sets before Muchova ultimately prevailed.
Home favorite Zheng Qinwen will take Osaka's spot in the draw. In addition to Gauff and Osaka, World No. 1 Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anisimova will not participate in this final WTA 1000 tournament of the season, where Aryna Sabalenka is expected to be the top seed. First-round matches in Wuhan will commence on Monday, October 12, and the tournament will conclude with both singles and doubles finals on Sunday, October 18.