French Open: 28YO WTA Pro Drops Shocking Announcement Months After Comeback From Maternity

The 2025 French Open seems to have been hit by a series of withdrawals! China’s Zhang Zhizhen was the first player to pull out his name from the French Open, and he was followed by his compatriot Shang Juncheng, who also decided to withdraw his name due to an injury. Following that, there came a series of names, including Sara Sorribes Tormo, David Goffin, and even the former Wimbledon finalist, Matteo Berrettini, confirmed his withdrawal recently by saying, “I unfortunately had to make the very difficult decision to withdraw from Roland Garros. I just ran out of time to feel 100% ready to compete at the level that is needed. I’m looking forward to competing on the grass and am already preparing with my team. ” Amid all these, there is a new addition to that list. Who is it?

The former world number 4, Belinda Bencic, has announced her withdrawal from the tournament with a social media post. Bencic’s best record in this tournament has been reaching the third round twice (2019, 2022). But following a maternity leave in September 2023, Bencic returned to the Tour in 2024. In this season, she has already won a title in Abu Dhabi, but as things stand, her hopes of pulling up yet another astonishing performance this year have now been shattered.

In her recent IG story, she shared this update, saying, “Hi everyone — a quick update here from me as I will, unfortunately, miss Roland Garros this year. Just two days ago, during a morning practice, I re-aggravated the arm injury that caused me to retire in Rome. The very good news is that with two weeks of complete rest, I will be able to recover and head fully. So I will do everything I can in that period to speed up the process and therefore see you soon on the grass!” Bencic was supposed to take on Elena Rybakina in the first round.

Bencic was forced to withdraw from her first-round match at the Italian Open when she was trailing the Greek, Maria Sakkari, by 2-6. However, her fans looked quite optimistic about her participation at the French Open after seeing her share a few glimpses of her practice session from Cap d’Ail.

This would have been her fourth meeting with the Kazakh star and second this season, after already managing to get the better of Elena Rybakina at the SF of the Abu Dhabi Open by 3-6,6-3,6-4. (Bencic leads the H2H record against Rybakina by 2-1). But as things stand, she will now be replaced by a qualifier or a lucky loser at the French Open. Did this withdrawal make things easier for Rybakina, though?

Who are Elena Rybakina’s probable opponents at the 2025 French Open?

The former world number 3, Elena Rybakina, is currently taking part in the Strasbourg Open. She defeated Poland’s Magda Linette in the QF by 7-5,6-3 and made her way into the SF, where she’s currently facing America’s Danielle Collins. Following her win against Linette, Rybakina said, “I feel good on court. Still a lot to improve, but physically & mentally I’m happy to play tournaments. I think it’s getting better & better. Hopefully, I can play more here & perform well at the French Open.“

Elena Rybakina’s best record at the French Open has been reaching the QFs in 2021 and 2024. Last year, she was defeated by Italy’s Jasmine Paolini by 2-6,6-4,4-6. How far can she reach this time?

Well, we don’t know who’s going to be her new opponent in the first match (as of now). But if she wins that match, she could face America’s Iva Jovic in the second round, and then in the third round lies a bigger challenge. In the third round, she could face the 2017 French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko. The Latvian recently clinched the title in Stuttgart, so beating her would certainly not be a ‘cakewalk’.

If Rybakina manages to beat her in that match, she could face the defending champion Iga Swiatek in the fourth round. Swiatek has won the French Open title four times in her career, but her record against Rybakina is 4-4. The Pole has won their previous two encounters (United Cup and Qatar Open) this season. Then in the QF, Rybakina’s probable opponent could be last year’s finalist and this year’s Italian Open champion, Jasmine Paolini. Following that lies a possible meeting with the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, in the SF and Coco Gauff in the final.

How far do you think Elena Rybakina can go at this year’s French Open, and also let us know if you think Belinda Bencic‘s withdrawal will make things comparatively a bit easier for the Kazakhstani to get off to a winning start in this mega event.