The opening WTA 1000 event of 2026 presents a heavyweight draw in Doha, even after the withdrawal of world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Six of the world’s Top 10 are entered at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, with top seed and former champion Iga Swiatek heading a stacked top half.

Swiatek, who won the Doha title in 2022 and went on to claim the No. 1 ranking and two major trophies that season, is listed as the world No. 2 in this draw. The top half pairs her on the same side as defending champion Amanda Anisimova and Australian Open semifinalist Elina Svitolina. The six-time Grand Slam champion will face either Indonesian wild card Janice Tjen or Sorana Cirstea following a first-round bye.

Swiatek and Anisimova produced one of the standout rivalries of 2025, with Anisimova avenging a 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon finals defeat to the Pole by recording hard-fought wins at the US Open and the WTA Finals. Anisimova began a breakthrough run last February when she won her first WTA 1000 title in Doha; she later reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals and added a second WTA 1000 trophy in Beijing. Seeded third, Anisimova opens against the winner of former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova or Filipina sensation Alexandra Eala.

Pliskova is returning after missing much of the last two years with multiple injuries and reached the third round at the Australian Open. Eala’s rise continued after a fairytale run to the 2025 Miami Open semifinals.

The bottom half is anchored by reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, competing in her first event since lifting a second career major title. Rybakina will open against either Wang Xinyu or Emiliana Arango, with a projected quarterfinal against No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva. Coco Gauff also landed in Rybakina’s half and could face McCartney Kessler in her opening match; Kessler scored a statement victory over Gauff in the Middle East last February, stunning the two-time Grand Slam victor at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Aryna Sabalenka announced she will not play the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, citing a change in schedule that removes the world No. 1 from the first WTA 1000 event of the 2026 season. The withdrawal comes ahead of what would have been her first tournament since finishing runner-up at the 2026 Australian Open.

Attention around Sabalenka’s absence intensified after fans noticed a new ring on the player’s finger in social media posts published on Wednesday. The sighting stirred speculation about an engagement to longtime boyfriend Georgios Frangulis, who has been in a relationship with Sabalenka since 2024 and is identified as the CEO of açaí bowl brand Oakberry.

Sabalenka is scheduled to return to competition the following week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where she may face questions about the ring and her plans. The player had recently hinted at a desire to advance her relationship during her runner-up speech at the Australian Open, when she said she hoped to call her boyfriend “something else.”

On court, Sabalenka arrived in Doha as the world No. 1 and the highest seed, coming off a run to the Australian Open final. In that Grand Slam championship match she lost to Elena Rybakina, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, after holding a 3-0 lead in the deciding set. The defeat left Sabalenka 4-4 in major finals and she entered the 2026 season with four Grand Slam singles titles to her name.

Tournament organizers will proceed without the top-ranked player in Doha, and attention now shifts to Dubai for Sabalenka’s expected return. Until then, questions about her schedule and the personal developments suggested by the ring will likely remain subjects of interest for fans and the media.

The Qatar TotalEnergies Open arrives as the WTA’s first 1000-level stop of 2026, with nine of the world’s top 10 entered fresh from the Australian Open. Doha, a fixture on the calendar for more than 20 years, begins the Middle East double with Dubai and offers 1000 ranking points to the winner.

Elena Rybakina has arrived in form. She first underlined her credentials last fall by winning the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek. The Kazakh repeated the feat last week in Melbourne, stunning both Swiatek and Rybakina to capture her second Grand Slam victory and first since the 2022 Wimbledon championship.

“I have big goals,” Rybakina confirmed. “Of course, time will show, but definitely we will keep on working, and hopefully I achieve my goals.”

Rybakina, currently No. 3 in the world and 26 years old, has a record of strong results in the Middle East, including a run to the Doha final in 2024. With the tour on hard courts for the next eight weeks, she has an opening to close the gap on the top-ranked Sabalenka.

For Aryna Sabalenka it is a study in contrasts. She has been within reach of the sport’s biggest trophies since 2023 and finished 2025 with a fourth Grand Slam at the US Open. Last week she fell to Elena Rybakina after leading 3-0 in the final set, bringing her major finals record to 4-4.

“Overall it was much better than last year,” she said. “I was ready to fight, I knew that she’s not going to give it easily to me. So, I think overall, I made huge improvement on that, and I still lost it. But it’s okay. I feel like I’m moving towards the right direction.”

Sabalenka leads the rankings by more than 3000 points and can extend that advantage in Doha. Behind her, the battle for No. 2 remains open. From Iga Swiatek down to Jessica Pegula at No. 6 there is a 1875-point spread, and Rybakina sits 455 points behind Swiatek. The absence of several big names opens opportunities for others to move up as the tour heads into the Sunshine Swing.