An injury and a withdrawal: Mertens sends Bencic to the third round without playing in Wuhan

Elise Mertens, suffering from a back injury, withdrew before her match against Belinda Bencic in Wuhan.

A tough blow for Mertens. The Belgian, ranked 21st in the world, was unable to take the court this Wednesday for the second round of the WTA 1000 in Wuhan. As reported by RTBF, the 29-year-old player, injured in the back, was forced to withdraw before facing Belinda Bencic.

The Swiss player, who had easily defeated Donna Vekic (6-2, 6-2) in the previous round, takes advantage to advance to the round of 16 where she will face Iga Swiatek. As for Mertens, this is another back issue, as she had also experienced back pain during her third-round loss at the US Open to Cristina Bucsa.

As a result of this withdrawal, the native of Leuven, who had defeated Polina Kudermetova (7-6, 6-3) in the first round, will also be unable to compete in the doubles tournament she was set to play with her regular partner, Veronika Kudermetova. Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova therefore advance in the draw without playing.