Second seed Anisimova withdraws from Singapore Tennis Open because of wrist injury

SINGAPORE – The ongoing Singapore Tennis Open has been dealt another blow after the withdrawal of second seed Amanda Anisimova on Sept 22.

The American world No. 11 withdrew from the WTA 500 tournament at The Kallang’s OCBC Arena owing to a left wrist injury.

She had received a bye into the second round, and is replaced by Slovak Viktoria Morvayova, who will face Australia’s Talia Gibson on Sept 24.

Anisimova had announced her arrival in Singapore in a Sept 15 TikTok video, and uploaded a second video the next day including clips of herself practising on court.

She attended the tournament’s welcome reception for players on Sept 20, when she said she was hoping for another strong Asian swing, which includes tournaments in China, South Korea and Japan alongside the Singapore Tennis Open.

Anisimova won the 2025 WTA 1000 China Open in October, and has not won a title since. She is currently on the player list for the 2026 edition that will take place in Beijing from Sept 30 to Oct 11.

The Singapore Tennis Open ends on Sept 27.

She said on Sept 20: “I feel like I always play well in the tournaments in Asia and I really enjoy playing here.

“I really like the culture and the people, and I always feel very welcome. I’ve had very good results, so that gives me confidence and I always look forward to coming back here.”

Her withdrawal follows that of compatriot and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, who pulled out on Sept 16.

In Pegula’s place, world No. 5 and reigning Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva became the top seed and she begins her campaign against Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Sept 23.

Also in action on Sept 23 are defending champion and fourth seed Elise Mertens and two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova who face each other in the second round.

The former Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion was put to the test by Anna-Lena Friedsam in her first-round match on Sept 22, needing to save two match points before triumphing.

Filipino world No. 18 and third seed Alexandra Eala, who received a first-round bye, will open her campaign on Sept 24 against world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova.

Laura Chia is a journalist covering breaking news and current affairs, with an interest in sports.