World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and world No. 9 Iga Swiatek are among eight players who have cut their 2026 tennis seasons short, with Britain's Jack Draper also ending his campaign early.
Sinner has not played a match since July due to a knee injury, while Swiatek withdrew from her last two events with a quad injury. Draper made the decision to end his season in mid-September.
Injury-Plagued End to the Season
Sinner has not competed since successfully defending his Wimbledon title in July, lifting a fifth Major trophy. The Italian has been battling a knee injury, which forced him to miss the entire North American hard-court swing, including the US Open. He hoped to return in Asia but pulled out of the ATP 500 event in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters before deciding to stop altogether.
"Me, together with the doctors, have decided that I need a course of treatment for my knee, which means that the 2026 season is officially over," he said in a video announcement. "At the moment, I also need to think about my long-term career. I will do everything possible to get back to 100 per cent."
Swiatek and Draper's Early Exits
Swiatek played through a quad injury at last week's Wuhan Open, but it became too much. She was in tears during her semi-final defeat to countrywoman Maja Chwalinska and was seen speaking to her team early in the second set, though she decided against retiring mid-match. She lost 7-5 6-1 and later said she wanted Chwalinska to win in her own right.
Swiatek then travelled to this week's Ningbo Open but pulled out on Tuesday, which meant she could not qualify for the WTA Finals. The Pole later ended her season, meaning she will not be in action at next week's WTA 500 event in Tokyo. "The past few months, or actually the past couple of years, have been incredibly intense and I feel I need to rest and recover my body fully. So that's exactly what I will do, a bit longer this time. I've decided to end my season here, which means I won't be playing any more tournaments this year," she wrote on social media.
Draper has had a tough 18 months, having won Indian Wells in early 2025 and reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 that summer. Since then, he has been plagued by a bone bruising injury in his left playing arm. A knee injury also saw him miss the majority of this year's clay swing. The 24-year-old reached the Eastbourne semi-finals in June but pulled out of Wimbledon one day before his first match. He made a short-lived comeback in Canada and Cincinnati but pulled out of the US Open and, last month, ended his season altogether.
"I am taking this time to reset and heal so when I return I am 100 per cent ready to go. Tennis is my purpose and passion and so when I step back on court I want to make sure that there's nothing holding me back from where I want to go and achieve the things I know I'm capable of," he wrote.
Other Players Ending Their Seasons
Amanda Anisimova reached two Grand Slam finals, won two WTA 1000 titles, and reached the world's top five last year. But she was bogged down by a wrist injury in 2026 and brought her season to a close in September. Announcing the news, the former world No. 3 said: "I will be wrapping up my season for the year. I sustained a wrist injury again, that I need to take care of. Time to get healthy, reset, and see you all in 2027."
Emma Navarro, the former world No. 8, took to Instagram to share a lengthy statement addressing her health challenges in recent years, which caused dizziness and weight loss. Navarro reached a career-high ranking in 2024, making it to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon and the semis of the US Open. But she struggled to back up her results in 2025 and was diagnosed with relative energy deficiency in sport and Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. Navarro admitted to pushing herself, believing it was the right thing to do because she saw results on the tennis court, but she was left feeling fatigued and "angry".
Now, the American knows her limits and has ended her season early. "I gained some weight this year. But I also gained my life back. I have enough energy to seize every day, to train or compete as hard as I want to, and to live a life outside of tennis," she wrote. "I am taking the rest of the year to work on dialling in my medication and fueling protocols so that I can hopefully feel back to 100 per cent again."
