The WTA Tour has exposed an issue with their own events after British player is added to China Open qualifying draw

The WTA Tour has a clear issue with their own tournaments that has been evident at the China Open.

After the conclusion of the US Open, the Grand Slam season for 2026 officially came to an end, but there is still a lot to play for on both the WTA and ATP Tours.

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One of the biggest tournaments on both calendars this year is the China Open, which is a 1000 tournament for WTA players, which is an event only bettered by Grand Slams and the WTA Finals.

Despite its billing as one of the biggest tournaments on the WTA Tour, the qualifying draw could easily convince you otherwise.

Seven unranked singles players should not be in qualifying at a WTA 1000 event

One of the biggest and most controversial changes in tennis in recent years has been the expansion of most 1000 events to two weeks, rather than just one, which has also impacted the China Open since 2024.

This has received a lot of criticism from both tennis fans and players, with the expansion also being discussed as a potential contributor to the growing number of injuries within the sport.

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Injuries have impacted the China Open heavily this year, with 17 players withdrawing from this year's tournament including Jessica Pegula, Emma Raducanu and defending champion Amanda Anisimova.

The Asian Games has also meant that Alex Eala is missing the China Open this year, as well as other players opting to represent their respective countries in Japan instead.

With the bigger main draw, it also means that there is a bigger qualifying draw. With some of these withdrawals taking place with little time before the draw, the China Open had to find replacements and it has meant that there are many lower-ranked players in the draw.

This has included having seven doubles specialists, who are unranked in singles, having to fill in for the empty spaces in the draw. This included British player Olivia Nicholls, who had not played a singles match since 2022 and had never played one on the WTA Tour.

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Not a single one of these doubles specialists won a set in their match, with Nicholls and her partner Tereza Mihalikova winning just two games in their respective qualifying defeats.

The likes of Nicholls are clearly not at fault for this and they have put themselves in a position they have not been in for years by playing singles, but this is clearly not right.

If the China Open is supposed to be as big an event that the WTA bills it to be, then it should feel like more of an exclusive event and not a free-for-all.

The ATP and WTA Tours need to address the issues with two-week 1000 events before the 2027 season

While the China Open is perhaps the worst example we have seen of this happening, it is only the start for what will most likely come at the Wuhan Open and more WTA 1000 events next year.

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This is why it is essential that this is addressed prior to the 2027 season as something needs to be done to prevent this from happening again.

Not only are the two-week 1000 events a worse product for the fans, but they are clearly having an impact on injuries to players and therefore the overall quality of the tournaments.

Players on the player council like Pegula need to be outspoken about this and make a change, because it seems like the tours themselves are not willing to do anything and this will be the only thing that forces them to listen.

The China Open is already in a very difficult slot in the calendar after the last Grand Slam of the year, and the two-week format only emphasises that further, which is not fair on the players or the spectators watching.

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