Belinda Bencic travelled to Tokyo hoping to defend her title. Instead, the Swiss star discovered that her 2026 season was over. And the strangest part? She still has no idea how she suffered the injury.
The world No. 20 announced on Instagram on Monday, October 26, that she would miss both the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and next week’s Hong Kong Open, bringing her season to an unexpectedly early conclusion.
Medical examinations in Japan revealed multiple partial tears of a ligament in her right foot.
For the Olympic champion, the news was particularly painful because she had been looking forward to returning to one of her favourite tournaments.
From Feeling Perfectly Fine to a Season-Ending Injury
What makes Bencic’s situation so unusual is the absence of any obvious incident that could explain the damage.
Just days earlier, she had competed in Ningbo against Katarzyna Kawa without noticing anything particularly wrong.
Even the following day, everything seemed normal.
Then came an unpleasant surprise.
“A few days ago, I woke up with very intense pain in my right foot,” Bencic explained on Instagram. “I still have absolutely no idea what could have caused it, because nothing unusual happened during my last match in Ningbo. Even the day after the match, I felt perfectly fine.”
An MRI scan in Tokyo subsequently revealed multiple partial tears of the tibiofibular ligament in her right foot.
Yet the diagnosis has not solved the mystery.
“I still have absolutely no idea when or how this happened,” she admitted.
Whatever caused the injury, the consequences were immediate: no Tokyo, no Hong Kong and no more competitive tennis in 2026.
Tokyo Was Supposed to Be a Special Return
The disappointment extends beyond missing two tournaments.
She will drop considerably in the rankings.
Bencic was the defending champion in Tokyo, where she had hoped to finish her season with another strong performance.
The city also holds considerable personal significance for the Swiss player, who won Olympic singles gold there in 2021.
“Well… this is a very frustrating end to my season,” she wrote. “I’m so sad and disappointed to have to withdraw from Tokyo, one of my favourite tournaments of the entire year, especially here in a city that means so much to me.”
Bencic also apologised to those affected by her late withdrawal and confirmed that she was already looking forward to returning next year.
For now, the priority will be recovering from an injury whose exact cause remains unknown.
There is a cruel irony in how her season has finished.
Bencic came to Tokyo hoping to repeat one of her happiest tennis memories. Instead, the city delivered news she had no reason to expect.
She knows what the injury is. What she still cannot explain is how it happened.