Pegula, Rybakina withdraw from Seoul; Anisimova, Raducanu into main draw

Defending champion Jessica Pegula is one of four current or former Top 10 players who have withdrawn from the Korea Open, which begins on Sep. 16.

Pegula, who reached her first Grand Slam final last week at the US Open, has pulled out of the WTA 500 event in Seoul due to a rib injury. The American has been joined on the sidelines by former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina (back injury), US Open semifinalist Emma Navarro (change of schedule) and 2014 champion Karolina Pliskova (foot injury).

At the US Open, Rybakina withdrew ahead of her second-round match against Jessika Ponchet, and Pliskova was forced to retire three points into her second-round clash with Jasmine Paolini. Former World No.1 Pliskova has also withdrawn from the China Open, which begins on Sep. 25.

As a result of these four withdrawals, along with no Special Exempt place being used, the following five players move directly into the main draw: Zhang Shuai, Amanda Anisimova, Viktoriya Tomova, 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu. The next three alternates are Tatjana Maria, Arantxa Rus and Hailey Baptiste.

World No.1 Iga Swiatek heads the entry list, which also includes Daria Kasatkina, Diana Shnaider, Marta Kostyuk, Beatriz Haddad Maia, 2022 champion Ekaterina Alexandrova and 2023 runner-up Yuan Yue.