Thigh injury ends Swiatek's season and WTA Finals bid

 ⁠Iga Swiatek ended her season on Tuesday after withdrawing from the Ningbo Open with a ​thigh injury, a decision that ​also ended the six-time Grand Slam champion's hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals.
The 25-year-old Pole, who described the campaign as the most demanding of her career, finished the year without a Grand Slam title. Her last major triumph came at last year's Wimbledon.
Swiatek, who has played at every edition of the ⁠WTA Finals since 2021 and won the season-ending championships in 2023, needed to ⁠reach at least the quarter-finals in Ningbo to have any chance of displacing Czech Karolina Muchova from the last qualifying spot.
'After careful consideration, I've decided to withdraw from the tournament,' Swiatek said in a ‌statement posted on the Ningbo Open's social media.
'I've ​been experiencing an ongoing ⁠problem with my left thigh over the past weeks and I ​feel that giving myself the time ‌to rest and recover is the right decision.'
The injury also troubled Swiatek during her 7-5 6-1 semi-final defeat by compatriot Maja ​Chwalinska at last week's Wuhan Open.
Swiatek finishes the season with a 39-15 record and one title, at the Canadian Open. She also failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals at any of the four Grand Slams.
'This has been one of the most demanding seasons of my career, with a ‌lot of challenges, changes and lessons along the way,' Swiatek said on social ​media.
'I'm especially proud of the work we've done in the second half of the year ​and ‌the ⁠progress that came with it. It gives me a lot of confidence in what's ahead.
'The past few months, or actually the past couple of years, have been incredibly intense and ​I feel I need to rest and recover my body ⁠fully. So that's ​exactly what I will do, a bit longer this time. I've decided to end my season here, which means I won't be playing any more tournaments this year...
'As always, I'll come back with passion and motivation to keep improving...'
The former world number one, who ​has slipped to ninth in the rankings, served a short suspension in ​late 2024 after an inadvertent doping violation linked to contaminated melatonin, a sleep medication.
 — Reuters