Doubles star Ellen Perez claims Mirra Andreeva failed to secure a visa in time for Tokyo and that's why the world No. 9 is not competing anywhere this week despite needing points to reach the WTA Finals.
Andreeva and Elena Rybakina are fighting for one of the last two spots at the WTA Finals, but only the latter is playing this week in Tokyo. When it was revealed over the weekend that the Russian wouldn't participate at the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo, it left the tennis community baffled. Also, such developments left the Kazakh only needing to reach the Tokyo semifinal to clinch the final Riyadh spot.
On X, one fan expressed his disbelief at Andreeva not playing this week.
"I legit don't understand what happened here with Mirra. She was given an Exemption WC in the middle of the week and then she rescinded it. What on earth is going on with her? It's not an easy road for Rybakina to make the semis next week, but still..." a fan wrote on X.
Perez claims visa issues are to blame for Andreeva not playing this week
Perez responded to the X post in question by claiming: "She doesnt have the visa to play in Tokyo."
Andreeva missing the key week because of visa issues is certainly an odd thing. However, it also reveals that she actually wanted to compete this week, but was prevented.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Rybakina plays against Leylah Fernandez in the Tokyo round-of-16. If the Kazakh losses, Andreeva will still make the WTA Finals as the last entry.
