Sloane Stephens has pulled out of the Merida Open for personal reasons, days after announcing her divorce from Jozy Altidore. The withdrawal adds to a wave of absences at the WTA 500 event in Mexico, following similar pullouts in Dubai. Paula Badosa and several other players have also cited injuries or illness as reasons for skipping the tournament.
The Merida Open Akron, a WTA 500 tournament in Mexico, has faced multiple high-profile withdrawals ahead of its start. Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, announced her exit on February 24, 2026, attributing it to personal reasons. This comes shortly after her public separation from husband Jozy Altidore, revealed via Instagram stories on February 21. In her post, Stephens wrote: “Jozy and I have decided to end our marriage. With peace, I am navigating this transition with mutual respect and kindly ask for privacy during this time. Thank you for your love, understanding, and continued support.”
Stephens and Altidore, a former USMNT soccer player, first met as children at Boca Prep International School in Florida. Their relationship evolved from friendship to romance in 2016, leading to an engagement in April 2019 at an art gallery in Los Angeles featuring photos of their shared history. They married on January 1, 2022, in Miami Beach, Florida. Altidore had supported Stephens at events like the 2017 Rogers Cup.
Stephens' withdrawal underscores a challenging period. She endured a 13-match losing streak in 2024 due to a right ankle injury and missed three Grand Slams in 2025—a stress fracture in her right foot sidelined her from late February to mid-September. Ranked No. 775 at the start of 2026, she qualified for the Australian Open but lost in the first round to Karolina Pliskova. At a post-match press conference, Stephens stated her goals: “to play a lot of tennis, whatever that means... be pain-free, healthy, and win a lot of matches.”
The Merida event echoes a trend from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where players like Iga Swiatek (scheduling), Aryna Sabalenka (right hip injury), and Maria Sakkari (illness) withdrew. In Merida, Paula Badosa cited a right thigh injury from her mid-match retirement in Dubai, posting on social media: “I am very sorry to announce that I will not be able to be in Merida playing this year... Mexico always feels like my second home. Now I have to recover well and come back as soon as possible.” Others absent include Sakkari (illness), Daria Kasatkina (right hip), Liudmila Samsonova (left knee), Diana Shnaider (right knee), Elisabetta Cocciaretto (left thigh), and Jaqueline Cristian.
This pattern has sparked discussions on WTA scheduling and workload, with Jessica Pegula set to lead the Tour Architecture Council to address calendar improvements.