MARIA SHARAPOVA SAYS SHE IS READY TO MAKE HER RETURN TO WUHAN OPEN, COMPLETE DRAW HERE

Written by: Staff on 26th September 2015

MARIA SHARAPOVA SAYS SHE IS READY TO MAKE HER RETURN TO WUHAN OPEN, COMPLETE DRAW HERE |

Maria Sharapova sounded a confident note ahead of her return to competition at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

With some solid practice sessions under her belt she says she is feeling healthy after recovering from the leg injury which has kept her off the court since Wimbledon.

“Obviously I have missed playing in many tournaments in the last few months and as I was getting healthy and preparing and training, this tournament worked out really well in my schedule and there is no reason why I wouldn’t play.

“I didn’t have the best result at this tournament last year and that is definitely something I would like to change this week.”

With a bye in the first round, her first match opponent is either Barbora Strycova or Timea Babos.

“You can never underestimate an opponent, whether seeded or not. There is not an easy match and I believe many of the top 20 are here so you know there is going to be top quality tennis. You can’t look at any match and say that will be an easy match.”

Maria Sharapova of Russia in action during her fourth round match against Flavia Pennetta of Italy at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 17 March 2015. EPA/MIKE NELSON

Earlier in the day Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova took some time out to visit the Dolphin Research Facility in Wuhan where she was able to shake hands and help feed a dolphin. Pavlyuchenkova is big fan of the animals, having swam with them previously in Miami, and she was given a warm welcome by all the staff and guests who turned out to greet her.

RESULTS – SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

Women’s  Qualifying Singles – Second Round

Qualifying – [14] T. Babos (HUN) d [3] A. Tomljanovic (CRO) 76(1) 67(2) 62

Qualifying – [4] J. Goerges (GER) d [10] A. Konjuh (CRO) 36 64 64

Qualifying – [5] H. Watson (GBR) d [15] Y. Putintseva (KAZ) 62 64

Qualifying – [16] M. Duque-Mariño (COL) d [6] C. Mchale (USA) 16 62 62

Qualifying – [7] J. Konta (GBR) d [11] I. Falconi (USA) 62 61

Qualifying – [12] L. Davis (USA) d [8] M. Linette (POL) 64 76(4)

Qualifying – [13] D. Kovinic (MNE) d Y. Wang (CHN) 64 76(4)

Qualifying – P. Tig (ROU) d [WC] Y. Xu (CHN) 62 63

First Round

Qualifying – P. Tig (ROU) d [1] M. Barthel (GER) 64 62

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

CENTRE COURT start 12:30 pm

V. Lepchenko (USA) vs [WC] S. Zheng (CHN)

[12] E. Svitolina (UKR) vs [WC] D. Hantuchova (SVK)

[Q] L. Davis (USA) vs V. Azarenka (BLR)

M. Niculescu (ROU) vs [WC] F. Liu (CHN)

COURT 1 start 11:00 am

S. Stosur (AUS) vs M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

[Q] J. Konta (GBR) vs [13] A. Petkovic (GER)

A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs S. Kuznetsova (RUS)

A. Cornet (FRA) vs [Q] J. Goerges (GER)

COURT 3 start 11:00 am

D. Gavrilova (RUS) vs T. Pereira (BRA)

B. Strycova (CZE) vs [Q] T. Babos (HUN)

L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs C. Vandeweghe (USA)

COURT 5 start 12:30 pm

[WC] C. Liu (CHN) / Z. Yang (CHN) vs A. Kudryavtseva (RUS) / O. Savchuk (UKR)

S. Errani (ITA) / F. Schiavone (ITA) vs [5] R. Kops-Jones (USA) / A. Spears (USA)

Singles  Main Draw

First Round

[1] S. Halep (ROU) d Bye

A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs. S. Kuznetsova (RUS)

[Q] L. Davis (USA) vs. V. Azarenka (BLR)

[Q] J. Konta (GBR) vs. [13] A. Petkovic (GER)

[10] A. Radwanska (POL) vs. V. Williams (USA)

A. Cornet (FRA) vs. [Q] J. Goerges (GER)

M. Niculescu (ROU) vs. [WC] F. Liu (CHN)

[7] C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) d Bye

[3] P. Kvitova (CZE) d Bye

D. Gavrilova (RUS) vs. T. Pereira (BRA)

Z. Diyas (KAZ) vs. I. Begu (ROU)

[Q] D. Kovinic (MNE) vs. [15] R. Vinci (ITA)

[12] E. Svitolina (UKR) vs. [WC] D. Hantuchova (SVK)

V. Lepchenko (USA) vs. [WC] S. Zheng (CHN)

S. Stosur (AUS) vs. M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO)

[8] K. Pliskova (CZE) d Bye

[5] G. Muguruza (ESP) d Bye

A. Riske (USA) vs. S. Stephens (USA)

M. Brengle (USA) vs. D. Cibulkova (SVK)

A. Dulgheru (ROU) vs. [9] A. Ivanovic (SRB)

[14] M. Keys (USA) vs. M. Rybarikova (SVK)

[Q] P. Tig (ROU) vs. K. Mladenovic (FRA)

[Q] M. Duque-Mariño (COL) vs. A. Schmiedlova (SVK)

[4] C. Wozniacki (DEN) d Bye

[6] A. Kerber (GER) d Bye

J. Jankovic (SRB) vs. [Q] H. Watson (GBR)

T. Pironkova (BUL) vs. C. Giorgi (ITA)

E. Bouchard (CAN) vs. [11] B. Bencic (SUI)

[16] S. Errani (ITA) vs. C. Garcia (FRA)

L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs. C. Vandeweghe (USA)

B. Strycova (CZE) vs. [Q] T. Babos (HUN)

[2] [WC] M. Sharapova (RUS) d Bye

The official websites for ticket sales are www.wuhanpen.org / www.4008702014.com or call +86 400 870 2014

About the 2015 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open:

Optics Valley International Tennis Centre, Wuhan, China

WTA Premier 5 event

Qualifying Sept. 25 & 26 – Main Draw Sept 27 – Oct 3, 2015

Prize Money: US$ 2,513,000

56 Singles Main Draw, 32 Qualifying Draw, 28 Doubles Draw

Topics: Maria Sharapova, Tennis News, Wta, Wuhan Open

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ElenaFoundation says:

September 29, 2015 at 1:05 am

Great news that @MariaSharapova is fit and will be back soon! http://t.co/kaJVDohL4l (news via our good friends @10sBalls_com)
No1TennisMum says:

September 29, 2015 at 1:53 am

RT @ElenaFoundation: Great news that @MariaSharapova is fit and will be back soon! http://t.co/kaJVDohL4l (news via our good friends @10sBa…