Reuters1 Minute Reading
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on Monday withdrew from the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, days after slamming the WTA for introducing performance byes at the tournament.
Byes are usually awarded to top-seeded players, but performance byes allow players who played well the previous week to move directly to the second round of the next tournament.
Byes for the Pan Pacific Open were given to Maria Sakkari, who won the Guadalajara Open title on Saturday, and Caroline Garcia, who reached the semifinals. Both players are ranked lower than Rybakina, who was beaten by Linda Noskova in the first round.
“As a player I want to give everything on the court and right now my body is not ready to do that,” Rybakina said on Instagram.
“That’s why I decided to listen to my body and withdraw from the tournament. I love Japan, my fans here are amazing and for that reason it was a difficult decision.”
Rybakina said her decision to withdraw from the tournament had nothing to do with her missing a bye, adding: “The topic of the WTA is another topic, where I have my opinions and will express them clearly in coming.”