Andreeva and Rybakina were both in contention for the eighth and final place at the WTA Finals, and both women entered the tournament in Tokyo to gain some extra ranking points. But the Russian teenager suddenly decided to withdraw, leaving fans baffled.
Ellen Perez, the world No. 23 in doubles who reached the doubles semi-finals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, replied to one follower on social media who asked why Andreeva ‘rescinded’ her wildcard. “She doesn’t have the visa to play in Tokyo,” Perez tweeted.
However, Andreeva has now set the record straight, explaining that she and her team simply decided not to compete. It was a decision she was made to regret when Rybakina leapfrogged her in the race to the Finals.
“We just had a talk with our team and we decided to skip the tournament. In the end, it turned out to be a wrong decision,” the Dubai and Indian Wells champion told AFP.
“I guess with experience we’re just learning. This is just my, not even a second full year on the WTA Tour, so I think we’re just going to learn from this, we’re going to get more experience from this and next time I think we’re not going to make that mistake again.”
Rybakina made the most of her late qualification for the WTA Finals. She needed less than an hour to beat tournament debutant Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-1 in her opening match on Saturday.
Coming into the tournament, the world No. 6 said she was still recovering from jetlag after flying in from Tokyo, where she withdrew ahead of the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Andreeva and Shanider lost their opening doubles match. The No. 5 seeds faced defending champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe on Sunday and suffered a 6-3 7-6(2) defeat.
Andreeva is also the first alternate in the singles. If one of the top eight players withdraws from the tournament before the group stage is completed, the 18-year-old will take their place.
The world No. 9 gets £114k ($150k) just for staying in Riyadh as an alternate. If Andreeva is called in to play one or two matches, she will receive more money.
