As the WTA season approaches its conclusion, a cluster of mid-match retirements has drawn attention to the physical demands of the final stretch. During qualifying for the Ningbo and Osaka tournaments, several matches ended prematurely. Eight players retired mid-match in the qualifying rounds of the two WTA events; five came in Ningbo, a WTA 500 event, and three came in Osaka, a WTA 250. 

“How rare is this?! 😲😟 Ningbo — 5 retirements Osaka — 3 retirements And it’s only just qualifying,” The First Serve shared on X.

Top seed Daria Snigur, who had just reached a career-high ranking of No. 40, retired in the final qualifying round while trailing Katarzyna Kawa 6-1, 2-0. Kawa had improved on the previous day, when American Katie Volynets, who was ranked 88th, retired after losing the first set 6-1 and a 4-3 advantage in the second set. The 127th-ranked Pole reached the main draw after both opponents stopped playing. 

Third seed Anhelina Kalinina also retired in the final round, trailing Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-3 in the first set, which put Sasnovich into the main draw. Kalinina still got into the Ningbo main draw as a lucky loser when Elina Svitolina withdrew. The other two retirements came in the first round.

Fifth-seeded Magdalena Fręch retired against Han Shi, who had upset Alexandra Eala at the Wuhan Open the previous week, after losing the opening set 6–4. Fręch had called for the physiotherapist during the first set to receive treatment for pain around her hip/back area, but retired after holding serve to open the second.

Belgian teenager Jeline Vandromme retired against Alycia Parks, the sixth seed, when the second set was tied at 4-4, having won the first set 6-4. Vandromme was returning to competition after a leg injury forced her to miss the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen last month.

Coming to Osaka, it had its own share of surprises. Second seed Taylah Preston, who recently hit a career-high ranking of No. 86 and has won two titles this year (W100 Tokyo title in April and the WTA 125 Vancouver title in August), retired against fellow Australian Emerson Jones after losing the first set 6-0 in just 25 minutes.

That came a day after Preston’s own first-round match against Haruka Kaji, which ended with Kaji retiring while trailing 3-1. Eleventh seed Elina Avanesyan also retired against Sayaka Ishii after dropping the first set 6-3.

The retirements arrived over two days, October 17 and 18. Players were looking to earn a main-draw spot, but before they could, they had to make a mid-match exit. 

There were also withdrawals from Ningbo and Osaka this week, with several players ending their seasons early, taking time off or preparing for the WTA Finals. Having already qualified, Jessica Pegula and Svitolina pulled out of Ningbo. Anna Kalinskaya withdrew as well. She had retired in her opening match in Beijing citing health issues and then withdrew from Wuhan.

Camila Osorio and Clara Tauson both retired during their first-round matches in Wuhan and subsequently withdrew from Osaka. Fresh from the title run in Beijing, Qinwen Zheng also pulled out of Osaka. So did Nikola Bartunkova, who made the Beijing semifinals before losing in the second round in Wuhan.

Newly crowned Wuhan champion Maja Chwalinska is also out of Ningbo, citing a left thigh injury. In Osaka, Wuhan finalist Sonay Kartal withdrew citing a right knee injury, and lucky loser Kayla Day takes her place in the draw.

The main draw begins in Ningbo on October 19, headlined by top seed Elena Rybakina, who is coming off a withdrawal in Wuhan before the tournament kicked off, and second seed Iga Swiatek. And the upcoming days will reveal whether the rest of the draw arrives fresh or faces the strain of the long season.