SUPER SUNDAY OF WTA LADIES TENNIS • CELEBRATIONS IN WUHAN OPEN • DRAW

Written by: Staff on 22nd September 2018

SUPER SUNDAY OF WTA LADIES TENNIS • CELEBRATIONS IN WUHAN OPEN • DRAW |

Photo by @JJlovesTennis via Twitter

Super Sunday of tennis and celebrations in Wuhan

The fifth annual Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open starts in earnest on Sunday with an opulent “Fifth Anniversary” ceremony on the tournament’s 15,000-seater center court and a feast of world class tennis.

Fittingly, the evening ceremony will be followed by two Grand Slam singles champions in back-to-back night matches. Samantha Stosur (2011 US Open) takes on local favourite Saisai Zheng in the opening evening session match before Sloane Stephens (2017 US Open) faces Anett Kontaveit in what promises to be an engaging contest.

Sunday’s day session also features plenty of pedigree match-ups, with Wimbledon semi-finalist Julia Goerges playing Marketa Vondrousova, Kristina Mladenovic taking on Katerina Siniakova and 15th-seed Elise Mertens against Aliaksandra Sasnovich among the highlights.

Sunday will also mark the debut of the groundbreaking FoxTenn Real Bounce electronic line-calling system in Wuhan, the first time that this state-of-the-art technology has ever featured at a tennis event of this stature. It has previously been used at WTA International event in Nanchang and ATP Tour events in Europe and is also approved by the International Tennis Federation but it has never been used at a WTA Premier or equivalent tournament before.

Saturday’s final round of qualifying saw a strong showing from Chinese players, with Yafan Wang and Xiyu Wang joining countrywomen Shuai Zhang, Qiang Wang and Saisai Zheng in the Main Draw. Other qualifiers were Olympic Gold Medallist Monica Puig, Katerina Siniakova, Rebecca Peterson, Viktorija Golubic, Sara Torribes Tormo and young American Sofia Kenin.

A full Main Draw with qualifiers is available below. The 2018 Wuhan Open Doubles Draw is also attached.

Victoria Azarenka was unfortunately forced to withdraw from the tournament. Azarenka retired from her match in Tokyo on Friday with illness. Her place in the Main Draw is taken by Marketa Vondrousova, a Lucky Loser from qualifying.

Quote from Victoria Azarenka:

“It’s so disappointing not be to able to come to Wuhan but I just won’t recover and be ready in time to perform the way you need to at such a strong tournament. I’ve always enjoyed coming back to Wuhan and I look forward to seeing everyone there in 2019.”

DONGFENG MOTOR WUHAN OPEN – WUHAN, CHINA

$2,746,000

21-29 September 2018

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2018

CENTRE COURT start 11:00 am

[WC] S. Zheng (CHN) vs D. Collins (USA)

[11] J. Goerges (GER) vs [LL] M. Vondrousova (CZE)

L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs [13] D. Kasatkina (RUS)

6:30 pm

5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OPENING CEREMONY

Not Before 7:30 pm

[WC] S. Stosur (AUS) vs S. Zhang (CHN)

A. Kontaveit (EST) vs [9] S. Stephens (USA)

COURT 1 start 11:00 am

K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs [Q] K. Siniakova (CZE)

T. Babos (HUN) vs [Q] R. Peterson (SWE)

A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs A. Sevastova (LAT)

[15] E. Mertens (BEL) vs A. Sasnovich (BLR)

COURT 2 start 11:00 am

[Q] M. Puig (PUR) vs K. Flipkens (BEL)

Not Before 12:00 pm

S. Aoyama (JPN) / L. Marozava (BLR) vs N. Kichenok (UKR) / A. Rodionova (AUS)

[WC] Y. Duan (CHN) / Y. Wang (CHN) vs B. Bencic (SUI) / A. Cornet (FRA)

Not Before 4:00 pm

J. Ostapenko (LAT) / A. Sabalenka (BLR) vs [5] A. Klepac (SLO) / M. Martínez Sánchez (ESP)

SATURDAY QUALIFYING RESULTS:

RESULTS – SEPTEMBER 22, 2018

Women’s Qualifying Singles – Second Round

Qualifying – [2] K. Siniakova (CZE) d [10] M. Vondrousova (CZE) 61 61

Qualifying – [3] M. Puig (PUR) d [13] P. Hercog (SLO) 64 64

Qualifying – [5] R. Peterson (SWE) d Y. Duan (CHN) 46 63 63

Qualifying – [8] S. Kenin (USA) d [15] M. Niculescu (ROU) 76(5) 46 62

Qualifying – [12] Y. Wang (CHN) d L. Cabrera (AUS) 76(2) 76(3)

Qualifying – V. Golubic (SUI) d N. Gibbs (USA) 64 62

Qualifying – [WC] X. Wang (CHN) d V. King (USA) 61 00 Retired

Qualifying – S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP) d [Alt] A. Zaja (GER) 63 64

MAIN DRAW – WITH QUALIFIERS

First Round

[1] S. Halep (ROU) – Bye

M. Rybarikova (SVK) vs. D. Cibulkova (SVK)

[WC] B. Pera (USA) vs. [Q] X. Wang (CHN)

L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs. [13] D. Kasatkina (RUS)

[11] J. Goerges (GER) vs. [LL] M. Vondrousova (CZE)

[Q] S. Kenin (USA) vs. S. Hsieh (TPE)

A. Sabalenka (BLR) vs. C. Suárez Navarro (ESP)

[6] E. Svitolina (UKR) – Bye

[3] A. Kerber (GER) – Bye

[Q] Y. Wang (CHN) vs. M. Keys (USA)

[WC] S. Zheng (CHN) vs. D. Collins (USA)

J. Konta (GBR) vs. [16] A. Barty (AUS)

[12] K. Bertens (NED) vs. B. Bencic (SUI)

A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs. A. Sevastova (LAT)

A. Krunic (SRB) vs. C. Giorgi (ITA)

[5] P. Kvitova (CZE) – Bye

[7] N. Osaka (JPN) – Bye

[WC] S. Stosur (AUS) vs. S. Zhang (CHN)

C. Vandeweghe (USA) vs. D. Vekic (CRO)

A. Kontaveit (EST) vs. [9] S. Stephens (USA)

[14] G. Muguruza (ESP) vs. A. Van Uytvanck (BEL)

[Q] V. Golubic (SUI) vs. [Q] S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP)

K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs. [Q] K. Siniakova (CZE)

[4] C. Garcia (FRA) – Bye

[8] K. Pliskova (CZE) – Bye

[WC] Q. Wang (CHN) vs. M. Sakkari (GRE)

A. Cornet (FRA) vs. B. Strycova (CZE)

D. Gavrilova (AUS) vs. [10] J. Ostapenko (LAT)

[15] E. Mertens (BEL) vs. A. Sasnovich (BLR)

[Q] M. Puig (PUR) vs. K. Flipkens (BEL)

T. Babos (HUN) vs. [Q] R. Peterson (SWE)

[2] C. Wozniacki (DEN) – Bye

The 2018 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open takes place between 21-29 September 2018. For more information and to buy tickets visit: www.wuhanopen.org and www.4008702014.com

About the 2018 Wuhan Open:

Optics Valley International Tennis Centre, Wuhan, China

WTA Premier 5 event

September 21-29 September, 2018

Total Financial Commitment: $2,746,000 (USD)

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

Winner’s WTA ranking points: 900

••• this is interesting how their technology is different from HawkEye ••••

About FoxTenn Real Bounce technology:

FoxTenn’s technology has taken five years to develop and differs from traditional electronic line calling systems which use triangulation and trajectory projection based the movement of the ball in flight. Instead FoxTenn takes ultra high speed images taken in real time when the ball actually bounces on the court surface – what the manufacturer calls ‘the moment of truth’.

Wuhan Open’s top two showcourts – Center Court and Court No.1 will feature these innovations, with the results seen by crowds in the stadia and available to the WTA Tour’s global television audience. FoxTenn will install more than 40 ultra high speed cameras, positioned on the ground at the end of lines, which are capable of taking more than 2500 images per second. Analysis of these images will be backed up by the use of a high-speed laser, working in synchronicity with the cameras, to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Topics: 10sballs, Ladies tennis, Sports, Tennis, Wta, Wuhan Open