Pre-Wimbledon setback: Zheng Qinwen suffers neck injury, withdraws in Berlin before blockbuster with Elena Rybakina

Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the Berlin Ladies Open due to injury, prior to her scheduled match against Elena Rybakina. The Chinese tennis player recently reached her career-high ranking as world No. 4 after a good week on grass courts, but surprisingly pulled out of Berlin just hours before taking to the court.

The gold medalist from Paris 2024 played at the Queen’s Club Championships last week, where she defeated McCartney Kessler (6-3, 4-6, 7-5) and Emma Raducanu (6-2, 6-4) on her way to the semifinals. There, she fell in a tight battle to Amanda Anisimova (2-6, 6-4, 4-6), being eliminated from the tournament.

Nevertheless, securing a couple of wins on grass courts was a good morale boost for the Chinese player, especially at a time of year where her performance had typically deflated in previous seasons. In fact, she had never before reached a semifinal on this surface.

When it seemed that Zheng would arrive with full confidence for her next challenge – this Tuesday in Berlin – unfortunately, her withdrawal from the tournament due to a right neck injury was announced. She was set to face a blockbuster match against 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, but her spot will now be taken by American lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger.

With this, the world No. 4 concludes her participation in pre-Wimbledon grass-court tournaments, as she has no other tournaments announced on her calendar. Despite this, she will have a good incentive at SW19, as she will be the 4th seed – avoiding a potential clash against Coco Gauff or Aryna Sabalenka, at least until the semifinals.