{"id":1773863,"date":"2026-02-16T13:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1773863"},"modified":"2026-02-16T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:15:10","slug":"dubai-championships-withdrawal-list-grows-with-victoria-mboko-the-latest-to-pull-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1773863","title":{"rendered":"Dubai Championships: Withdrawal list grows with Victoria Mboko the latest to pull out"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Dubai Championships: Withdrawal list grows with Victoria Mboko the latest to pull out<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"16 Feb 2026 1:15 PM\" data-ps-date=\"16 Feb 2026 1:15 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1771247710\"><br \/>\n                            16 Feb 2026 1:15 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/dubai-championships-withdrawal-list-grows-with-victoria-mboko-the-latest-to-pull-out\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a 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class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Fwta-tour%2Fdubai-championships-withdrawal-list-grows-with-victoria-mboko-the-latest-to-pull-out\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a class=\"!text-share-icon hover:!text-share-icon-active flex items-center justify-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" aria-label=\"Follow Tennis365 on Google Search\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Dubai Championships: Withdrawal list grows with Victoria Mboko the latest to pull out\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Victoria-Mboko-with-inset-of-Karolina-Muchova-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Victoria Mboko with inset of Karolina Muchova\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Victoria Mboko with Karolina Muchova inset                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>The Dubai Tennis Championships has suffered another massive blow as teenage star Victoria Mboko has joined the long list of top stars to withdraw from the WTA 1000 tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Middle East tournament was hit by a double setback on Friday as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/aryna-sabalenka-iga-swiatek-withdraw-wta-dubai-championships-2026\">world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No 2 Iga Swiatek<\/a> both withdrew from the event and that was after their fellow former Grand Slam winners Naomi Osaka and Madison Keys had already confirmed they would not compete.<\/p>\n<p>Sabalenka withdrew due to fatigue while Swiatek announced that a change in schedule prompted her to skip the tournament and their announcements prompted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/dubai-tournament-director-harsher-punishment-late-sabalenka-swiatek-withdrawals\">strong response from tournament director Salah Tahlak<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIga said she wasn\u2019t mentally ready to compete, while Sabalenka said she has some minor injuries,\u201d he told The National.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo I don\u2019t know. I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players [for withdrawing], not just fines, they should be docked ranking points.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the list has since grown with former world No 4 and 2024 Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen, Qatar Open semi-finalist Maria Sakkari and Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who reached the quarter-final in Doha, also pulling out.<\/p>\n<p>But perhaps the biggest setbacks came on Monday when Qatar Open finalists Karolina Muchova and Mboko\u2019s names were also scrapped from the entry list.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/coco-gauff-responds-calls-iga-swiatek-aryna-sabalenka-punished-skipping-event\">Coco Gauff responds to calls for Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka to be \u2018punished\u2019 after skipping event<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/elena-rybakina-world-no-1-ranking-statement-aryna-sabalenka\">Elena Rybakina makes statement of intent about chasing world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The pair played in the final on Saturday with Muchova winning the tournament in straight sets to secure her first WTA 1000 trophy and second singles title.<\/p>\n<p>It has been confirmed that 15th seed Muchova withdrew due to fatigue, while the 11th-seeded Mboko is out with a right elbow injury with the problem first emerging during her quarter-final win over Elena Rybakina.<\/p>\n<p>Newly-crowned Australian Open champion Rybakina was promoted to top seed in Dubai with Amanda Anisimova second, Coco Gauff third, Jessica Pegula fourth and defending champion Mirra Andreeva fifth.<\/p>\n<p>The top stars on the WTA have long complained about the tough WTA Tour schedule and there had been threats in the past that they will pick their tournaments more carefully and it appears to have come to pass.<\/p>\n<p>Leading players are expected to play in the four Grand Slams, all 10 WTA 1000 events, and at least six WTA 500-level events every year.<\/p>\n<p>French tennis journalist Benoit Maylin says the blame lies with the WTA, writing on X: \u201cI understand the anger of the Dubai director, faced with the withdrawals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the problem doesn\u2019t come from the players who are protecting their health. It comes from the totally absurd schedule. It\u2019s the WTA that\u2019s at fault.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dubai Championships: Withdrawal list grows with Victoria Mboko the latest to pull out Shahida Jacobs 16 Feb 2026 1:15 PM Victoria Mboko with Karolina Muchova inset The Dubai Tennis Championships has suffered another massive blow as teenage star Victoria Mboko has joined the long list of top stars to withdraw from the WTA 1000 tournament. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1773863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1773863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1773863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1773863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1773863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1773863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}