HONG KONG — Qinwen Zheng has withdrawn from the Hong Kong Open due to injury, marking her third consecutive withdrawal just a week after winning the China Open title. The tournament confirmed the 24-year-old will miss the event, extending a worrying pattern that has followed her triumph in Beijing.
The Hong Kong Open said: “Meanwhile, Zheng Qinwen has unfortunately withdrawn from the tournament due to injury. We wish her a speedy recovery and hope to welcome her back to Hong Kong in 2027.” The announcement follows her earlier withdrawals from the Wuhan Open — a WTA 1000 event in her home country — and the Tokyo Open, with the quick turnaround after the China Open making her absence in Wuhan unsurprising before the second withdrawal could be justified as caution.
Zheng had explained her decision to miss Wuhan, saying: “Since returning from injury, I have played a demanding stretch of tennis over the past month and a half, competing at the US Open, the Billie Jean King Cup and the China Open. My body is feeling very fatigued after this intense run of matches.” Having emerged as one of the most talented Chinese players of her generation, she had regularly reached deep runs at WTA 1000 and Grand Slam level, culminating in finals at the Australian Open and the Wuhan Open in 2024, before the end of her 2025 campaign was marred by injury and elbow surgery forced her to shut down her season.
It remains unclear whether the latest sequence is a continuation of that protection against fatigue or something more sinister brewing. Her big ranking jump after winning the China Open should at least protect her position if she decides to end her season now, with so few tournaments remaining.