Belinda Bencic has brought her season to an abrupt close. The 2021 Olympic champion announced via social media that a right foot injury will force her to miss the tournaments in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed multiple partial tears of the tibiofibular ligament. The diagnosis sidelines the player for the remainder of the season and rules her out of the Billie Jean King Cup playoff tie in Thailand.

Intense Pain Surfaces Following Second-Round Exit in Ningbo

The 29-year-old athlete explained that she began feeling sharp, intense pain in her right foot after her recent run at the tournament in Ningbo, where she suffered a second-round exit.

Medical imaging subsequently revealed multiple partial tears of the tibiofibular ligament. Bencic noted that while the injury did not affect her during her matches in Ningbo, the structural damage surfaced afterward, forcing her withdrawal from the tournaments in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Demanding Tours Compound Lingering Physical Hurdles and Ranking Slide

Beyond missing her preferred autumn stops in East Asia, the physical setback keeps Bencic off the roster for the Billie Jean King Cup playoff matchup in Thailand, scheduled for November 21 and 22.

It compounds a physically taxing stretch that included demanding American and Asian tours hampered by lingering hip and thigh problems. Those earlier physical hurdles contributed to early-round exits that saw her ranking slide to No. 20 in the world prior to this latest shutdown.

Emotional Farewell to Tokyo and Anticipation for Return

“It’s a very frustrating end of the season for me,” Bencic wrote in her social media announcement. “I am so sad and disappointed to have to withdraw from one of my favorite tournaments of the year, especially here in Tokyo, a city that means so much to me.”

Looking ahead to her recovery, she added that she is eager to return next year to make up for lost time.