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HONG KONG: Top seed Belinda Bencic pulled out of the Hong Kong Open quarter-finals on Friday as the Tokyo Olympic champion became the latest in a long line of players to suffer a late-season injury.
The Asian “swing” on the WTA Tour has been particularly hard hit by injuries and pullouts in recent weeks, placing renewed scrutiny on the demanding tennis schedule.
Bencic, who was ranked 421 in the world at the start of the season but has climbed to 11, was supposed to meet Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in the last eight in Hong Kong.
“So disappointed to have to withdraw today from my quarter-final match here in Hong Kong due to my thigh injury,” said the 28-year-old Swiss, who won gold at the Covid-delayed Olympics in 2021.
“I’ve played a lot of tennis in the past few weeks and did everything I could to stay healthy, but it was not to be.”
Bencic beat Linda Noskova last weekend to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and cap a remarkable comeback, a year after returning to tennis from having a baby.
Noskova reached the final in the Japanese capital after Elena Rybakina withdrew injured ahead of their semifinal.
The tournament in Hong Kong was hit even before it began with the withdrawals of former world number one Naomi Osaka and the 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
Both ended their seasons early through injury.
Daria Kasatkina, who has won eight WTA titles, was also initially scheduled to compete in Hong Kong but she too brought the curtain down prematurely on her season.
“The schedule is too much, mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point and sadly I am not alone,” the 28-year-old, who this year switched nationality from Russia to Australia, said in early October.

PARIS: Jannik Sinner beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday to extend his indoor winning streak to 23 matches and maintain his chances of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.
The four-time Grand Slam champion needs to win the tournament to take the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner’s quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Ben Shelton.
The fifth-seeded American beat 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-3 to secure his place in the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Sinner is chasing a fifth title of the year and 23rd overall. He won an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna last Sunday despite having cramps.
“Hopefully, I can recover physically, which is my main priority” Sinner said ahead of his eighth match against Shelton. “Today was a great match and a great performance from my side.”
He leads Shelton 6-1 overall.
Later Thursday, defending champion Alexander Zverev played Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Vacherot keeps going
There seems to be no stopping Valentin Vacherot, who reached another Masters quarterfinal by beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Already this month, Vacherot made a stunning run from the qualifiers to win the Shanghai Masters for his first career title. He downed 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and beat his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.
“I never expected it,” Vacherot said. “Good thing that I keep going here, maybe enjoying the matches even more than in Shanghai.”
The 40th-ranked Vacherot, who is from Monaco, beat Rinderknech again in the second round here in Paris, setting up a match against Norrie after the British player eliminated Alcaraz.
Vacherot had five aces and saved all five break points against Norrie, who dropped serve once.
Vacherot next faces ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who rallied past Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Victory maintained Auger-Aliassime’s chances of reaching the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Other matches
Fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz lost 7-6 (5), 6-2 to No. 13 seed Alexander Bublik; No. 6 Alex De Minaur won 6-2, 6-2 against 2018 champion Karen Khachanov; and 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev reached his 25th Masters quarterfinal with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego.
Race to Turin
De Minaur qualified for the ATP Finals for the second consecutive season and Shelton for the first time, leaving one spot left.
Auger-Aliassime will leapfrog Lorenzo Musetti only if he reaches the final in Paris.