It was not an ideal week in Seoul, as the Korea Open was significantly disrupted due to poor weather<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the event was completed on time and it was Iga Swiatek who won the Korea Open title<\/a>, while the defending champion lost in the second round.<\/p>\n That player is Beatriz Haddad Maia, the former Roland Garros<\/a> semifinalist who has been ranked as high as world number 10.<\/p>\n It has been a relatively disappointing season for the Brazilian, who has only won 38% of her matches this year.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, there was still more pressure for Haddad Maia to overcome, as she was also defending 500 ranking points from winning the Korea Open<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n However, after saving a match point, Seidel fought back to knock the defending champion out of the Korea Open.<\/p>\n As a result, Haddad Maia has lost 440 ranking points and dropped down to world number 40 in the WTA rankings.<\/p>\n This is the 29-year-old\u2019s lowest ranking since June 2022, before she went on to have a breakthrough grass court season.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n She wrote in a message on Instagram, \u201cHey 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\u2026<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026Finally, 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!\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n WTA Players defending big points at the China Open <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Coco Gauff won the China Open<\/a> for the first time in 2024, and will be defending the most ranking points at this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n This will be 12.7% of Gauff\u2019s<\/a> ranking at risk, but that is nothing compared to last year\u2019s runner-up Karolina Muchova<\/a>, who is defending 26.1% of her ranking points at the China Open<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n 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%<\/p>\n Some of the other players dropping big ranking points include Paula Badosa<\/a>, Mirra Andreeva<\/a> and Aryna Sabalenka, the latter of whom has already withdrawn from the China Open<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n Despite being out of action since Wimbledon<\/a> due to an injury, 2024 semifinalist Qinwen Zheng has confirmed she will be returning to the China Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Beatriz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2232945763-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Mike Stobe\/Getty ImagesBeatriz Haddad Maia falls to her lowest ranking since 2022 and ends her season<\/p>\n