Natasha leaves live interview and withdraws from finals tournament: World No. 1 collapses

World No. 1 Elena Rybakina felt unwell during a live interview with French channel Canal+ and left it. Minutes later she announced her withdrawal from the WTA Finals in Indian Wells due to injury.

Drama live on air: World No. 1 Elena Rybakina was forced to withdraw from the prestigious WTA Finals in Indian Wells, United States, after feeling unwell during a television interview. Rybakina, who this year won the Australian and US Opens and reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career, sat down for an interview with French channel Canal+ and suddenly appeared unfocused. The interviewer asked if everything was okay, and after a few seconds Rybakina asked to stop and mumbled that she did not feel well while leaving the interview. Minutes later came the withdrawal announcement from the tournament. Rybakina arrived at the tournament as defending champion, having beaten Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final. She was replaced by Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. The article notes that Rybakina also withdrew from the Tokyo Masters quarterfinals due to fatigue.