Some players deal with the pressure of having to defend their titles better than others.
The WTA 500 level tournament in Seoul had an impressive field over the past week, with players including Iga Swiatek, Emma Raducanu, Barbora Krejcikova and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
It was not an ideal week in Seoul, as the Korea Open was significantly disrupted due to poor weather.
However, the event was completed on time and it was Iga Swiatek who won the Korea Open title, while the defending champion lost in the second round.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty ImagesBeatriz Haddad Maia falls to her lowest ranking since 2022 and ends her season
That player is Beatriz Haddad Maia, the former Roland Garros semifinalist who has been ranked as high as world number 10.
It has been a relatively disappointing season for the Brazilian, who has only won 38% of her matches this year.
That being said, Haddad Maia was able to prevent a huge ranking drop after defending 240 of her 430 ranking points from reaching the quarterfinals at the 2024 US Open.
However, there was still more pressure for Haddad Maia to overcome, as she was also defending 500 ranking points from winning the Korea Open last year.
It all appeared to be going fairly smoothly for Haddad Maia, who won her first round match in straight sets, and led her second round opponent 5-2 in the deciding set.
However, after saving a match point, Seidel fought back to knock the defending champion out of the Korea Open.
As a result, Haddad Maia has lost 440 ranking points and dropped down to world number 40 in the WTA rankings.
This is the 29-year-old’s lowest ranking since June 2022, before she went on to have a breakthrough grass court season.
Haddad Maia has been struggling with a knee injury for some time, and has now announced on social media that she will be ending her 2025 season.
She wrote in a message on Instagram, “Hey there everyone, I am posting this to share with you that I am wrapping up my 2025 season a little ahead of schedule so that I can rest my body and mind for a longer period…
“…Finally, a special thank you to all of you who always accompany me, support me, send energy, love and affection. Rest assured that I will come back stronger and the best is yet to come!”
Haddad Maia will drop a further 294 points before the end of the season, which would currently see her ranked as the world number 66.
WTA Players defending big points at the China Open
Haddad Maia is not the only player who is under threat of a rankings drop, with several WTA players defending many points from the upcoming WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.
Coco Gauff won the China Open for the first time in 2024, and will be defending the most ranking points at this year’s event.
This will be 12.7% of Gauff’s ranking at risk, but that is nothing compared to last year’s runner-up Karolina Muchova, who is defending 26.1% of her ranking points at the China Open this year.
China Open 2024Ranking Points they are defending at the 2025 China OpenPercentage of ranking point totalChampionCoco Gauff100012.7%Runner-upKarolina Muchova65026.1%SemifinalistPaula Badosa39017.8%SemifinalistQinwen Zheng3909.7%QuarterfinalistAryna Sabalenka2151.9%QuarterfinalistMirra Andreeva2154.5%Quarterfinalist Yulia Starodubtseva21525.6%QuarterfinalistShuai Zhang21531.5%
Some of the other players dropping big ranking points include Paula Badosa, Mirra Andreeva and Aryna Sabalenka, the latter of whom has already withdrawn from the China Open this year.
Despite being out of action since Wimbledon due to an injury, 2024 semifinalist Qinwen Zheng has confirmed she will be returning to the China Open.
There were also two surprise quarterfinalists at the China Open last year, and both Yulia Starodubtseva and Shuai Zhang could face big ranking drops if they do not achieve similar results to last year.
The main draw of the China Open will get underway on Wednesday, September 24, with the final taking place on Sunday, October 5.