The Dubai Championships is the next stop on the WTA Tour, and the prestigious tournament has suffered a double blow as Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have both withdrawn.
The WTA 1000 event in Dubai will be held from Sunday February 15 to Saturday 21 after the conclusion of the ongoing Qatar Open — a WTA 1000 in Doha.
Sabalenka and Swiatek are ranked first and second and would have been the top two seeds in Dubai.
The stars both confirmed their decisions in statements reported by tennis journalist Reem Abulleil, with Sabalenka saying she is “not feeling 100%” and Swiatek citing a “change of schedule” as her reason.
Sabalenka: “I’m really sorry I have to withdraw from Dubai. I have such a special connection with the tournament, the fans and the city. Unfortunately, I am not feeling 100%. But I hope to be back next year and wish the tournament a great event.”
Swiatek: “I am sorry to announce that I will not be playing Dubai this year due to a change of schedule. I hope I will come back next year to experience the great tournament. See you guys in Indian Wells.”
Sabalenka also pulled out of the Qatar Open, and she has not played since losing to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final last month.
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Swiatek, meanwhile, reached the quarter-finals in Doha this week, where she suffered a surprise loss to Maria Sakkari.
Rybakina, the world No 3, will be the top seed in Dubai in the absence of the top two, while fourth-ranked Amanda Anisimova has been bumped up to the No 2 seed position.
Sabalenka and Swiatek both said they would skip WTA events last month
Sabalenka and Swiatek have both spoken out about the demands of the tennis schedule and criticised the WTA’s mandatory tournaments rules.
Ahead of the 2026 Australian Open, Sabalenka outlined her intention to skip events this season to protect her body.
“The rules are quite tricky with mandatory events, but I’m still skipping a couple of events in order to protect my body, because I struggled a lot last season,” said the Belarusian.
“Even though the results were really consistent, some of the tournaments I had been playing completely sick or I’ve been really exhausted from overplaying. This season, we will try to manage it a little bit better, even though they are going to fine me by the end of the season.
“But it’s tricky to do that. You cannot skip 1000 events. It’s really tricky, and I think that’s insane what they do. I think they just follow their interests, but they’re not focusing on protecting all of us.”
After her Australian Open quarter-final exit, Swiatek echoed Sabalenka’s sentiments.
“I think we’ll skip some 1000 tournaments,” the Pole said.
“I was never in this position, so I don’t know what the result will be, but I think it’s necessary, because if you want to improve your game, unless I want to stay the same and just prepare for every tournament, then I can do that as well.
“I’ll play well, but if I want to improve something, it will be nice to have some time. Unfortunately, calendar doesn’t give that.”
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