WTA star releases statement as she ends her 2026 season early, ‘I fought as much as I could’

For both the WTA and the ATP Tours, this season has been a nightmare.

It feels like, more than ever, fitness concerns have reached an all-time high, resulting in what feels like an absurd number of players having either dealt with long-term injuries or shut their seasons down completely.

Many will rush to use Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the figureheads for this problem, and justifiably so given their standing within the game.

However, the sheer amount of players who have suffered huge consequences in 2026 is perhaps a greater driving factor, with one WTA star having joined this unwanted list.

As was first reported by Flashscore , Clara Tauson has now returned to Denmark with her campaign concluded early, after she retired injured from her Wuhan Open first-round clash with Marie Bouzková.

This marked a culmination of months of poor form, almost all of which can be attributed to her fitness concerns.

She has since taken to social media, according to Tennisform , to release a statement on the matter, simply writing: " I fought as much as I could all season and kept my head up, but there were more lows than highs, and too few weeks when I was able to play as I wanted.

"I will now take all the time necessary to recover. That's pretty good since I haven't taken a vacation in one go in ten years, and I'm going to do it this year."

It has been a torrid year for Tauson, and one that has been ravaged by injuries throughout. Hopefully, this extended break can be exactly what she needs to come back fit and firing in 2027 to once again rise up the rankings.

She has a career-high of 12th in the world, earned just last year.

What other players have ended their seasons early?

Undeniably, the most high-profile of this list saw Sinner end his 2026 season early , having not played a match since Wimbledon.

In doing this, the Italian surrendered his world number one spot, having missed the US Open as well.

He joins Jack Draper as the other biggest name from the ATP to have made such a tough decision.

Elsewhere, the WTA has seemingly been impacted by these fitness issues more than most, with a star-studded and ever-growing list now including Tauson.

It contains Amanda Anisimova, Emma Navarro, Ajla Tomljanovic, Anastasia Potapova, Hailey Baptiste, Victoria Mboko and Karolina Pliskova.