Rybakina’s struggles persist. After a disappointing second-round exit at the US Open, she unexpectedly withdrew from the WTA 500 tournament in Seoul and parted ways with her long-time coach, Stefano Vukov. However, the challenges for the Kazakh player didn’t end there. Following Iga Swiatek’s withdrawal from the China Open, Rybakina followed the lead.

The China Open took to the Chinese social media platform, Weibo, to announce her withdrawal. “Rybakina withdraws from the #2024ChinaOpen,” they wrote. Although the 2023 China Open semifinalist has made no official statement as of yet, the reason behind her withdrawal is reportedly her back injury. It would also lead Rybakina to lose 390 valuable ranking points!

Last year’s champion, Swiatek, is walking the same path. “Due to personal matters, I’m forced to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing,” Swiatek announced on Friday. Joining Swiatek and Rybakina in withdrawing from the tournament were the top-ranked players Danielle Collins, Maria Sakkari, Elina Svitolina, Ons Jabeur, and Marketa Vondrousova.

Rybakina, who started the season with a convincing victory over Aryna Sabalenka in Brisbane in the finals, also had a massive success at the Abu Dhabi Open (won over Daria Kasatkina). However, she skipped a tournament (Indian Wells) for the first time in the 2024 season, citing a gastrointestinal illness. 

Nevertheless, she bounced back in Miami and even clinched the Stuttgart Open title(her third of the season) after that! However, after a semifinal defeat in Madrid, the Italian Open defending champion, Rybakina, couldn’t come back to Rome. Moreover, after her QF round exit from Roland Garros, she admitted, “I think in the end my legs were not there. No matter which conditions, if it’s slow or fast, I should have been moving better… I was struggling a little bit with the health issues past few weeks — I think it’s just all together.”

Furthermore, Rybakina’s “bronchitis” also did not allow her to compete even in the Paris Olympics! Her bad luck continued in the Berlin Ladies Open QF, where she had to retire owing to her “abdominal pain”. Same happened in the Eastbourne International event as well, clearly citing “scheduling” as the reason. And after skipping the Canadian Open, and US Open (after the second round), the World No. 4 cited her back injury as the reason behind not being able to play in Seoul as well. 

Her strange streak of withdrawals has drawn fans and tennis experts’ attention. Per the tennis coach, Rennae Stubbs, there is more to the matter.

9 withdrawals is a “lot more than we realize,” says Stubbs 

After Elena Rybakina pulled out of the US Open, she hoped to “close it the remainder of the year strong.” But that does not seem to be happening to her. The former player, Stubbs, when asked about the same, speculated, “There’s something obviously going on here. I don’t want to speculate. But this is a very unusual situation. 8(China Open’s being 9th) withdrawals this year….”

“This is not a normal situation. I’ve seen her over the last couple of days. She hasn’t looked great. I’ve seen her for years on the tour. I know what she looks like when she’s happy, when she’s healthy, when she’s playing well,” Stubbs further added.

Moreover, Stubbs praised Rybakina, calling her a “nice” person and one of the “best players” in the world. But the frequent news of her withdrawals has made her “sad.” Nevertheless, she stated that she hopes to see her soon on-court. Much like her, fans worldwide are also waiting for a massive comeback from Elena Rybakina!