World number one Rybakina withdraws from Pan Pacific Open with neck injury

What the report says

Elena Rybakina withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after a neck injury, according to Al Jazeera’s report on 30 October 2026. The world number one had been scheduled to play Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals, but instead appeared on court to speak to fans and sign autographs. She told the crowd she had been dealing with a minor injury for a few days and said she could not compete at full strength.

Rybakina said she expects to be available for next month’s WTA Finals in Indian Wells. The report noted that her withdrawal came one day after she secured the year-end No. 1 ranking. She reached that milestone after beating Yulia Putintseva in her opening match in Tokyo, and she had arrived in Japan shortly after winning the Ningbo Open in China the previous week.

Al Jazeera also said Rybakina’s rise to the top capped a strong season. The Moscow-born Kazakh had earlier been described in the article as having won the Australian Open in January and, more recently, the US Open, giving her three Grand Slam titles in the report’s account. The withdrawal matters because it removes the top-seeded player from a major late-season event, while also raising brief fitness concerns heading into the year-end finals.