World No. 24 Zheng Qinwen announced Thursday she is withdrawing from the 2026 Australian Open, following extensive conversations with her team and medical consultations.

“After careful evaluation by my team and following medical advice, unfortunately I will be withdrawing from the 2026 Australian Open,” Zheng, the 2024 Australian Open finalist, wrote in an Instagram story.

“Making this decision has been incredibly difficult for me. Melbourne is my ‘lucky place,’ where I won my first Grand Slam main draw match and where I had my best experience. I have a special connection to this place, and I was very eager to start my new season at the Melbourne Park.”

After a first-round exit at Wimbledon last summer, Zheng underwent right elbow surgery to address “persistent pain,” and withdrew from the US Open. The 2024 Olympic gold medalist returned to play at her home tournament of Beijing in late September, but was forced to retire against Linda Noskova in the third round and then concluded her 2025 season on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. 

She did have a strong first half of the 2025 season, reaching the semifinals at Rome and Queen’s as well as the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, Charleston and Miami. 

Zheng noted she is doing well in her recovery, but isn’t at the level necessary to compete in a Grand Slam. 

“Although my recovery is progressing well and my offseason has gone smoothly, to play a Grand Slam requires players to maintain an extreme competitive condition. Currently, I have not yet reached my best condition that I have set for myself.”

Uzbekistan’s Polina Kudermetova, previously the first alternate, will replace Zheng in the main draw. Alongside Kamilla Rakhimova, the Australian Open will be the second Grand Slam main draw with multiple Uzbek representation — Iroda Tulyaganova and Akgul Amanmuradova overlapped once at the 2008 Australian Open.

Slovenia’s Veronika Erjavec now becomes the next alternate, followed by Great Britain’s Katie Boulter. Furthermore, Spain’s Aliona Bolsova, who recently announced her planned retirement this spring, now moves into the qualifiers — Croatia’s Tara Wuerth becomes the next alternate for the qualifying draw.

Recently, United States’ Jennifer Brady withdrew from the qualifiers, allowing Great Britain’s Mimi Xu to slide into the qualifying draw.

The Australian Open main draw is slated to begin Jan. 18 with qualifiers held the week prior.Â