WUHAN, September 5, 2018 (Press Release)
This month’s Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open is set to feature one of the strongest qualifying draws of the WTA season as a host of big names bid to join the World’s Top 20 players in the main draw of the prestigious WTA Premier 5 event in Central China.
Former US Open champion Samantha Stosur, Rio 2016 Olympic Gold medallist Monica Puig, former Wimbledon runner-up and former World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, former World No.8 Ekaterina Makarova and former World No.9 Andrea Petkovic have all entered the 32-player qualifying draw. Four players – Radwanska, Stosur, Makarova and Petkovic – have previously been ranked in the World’s Top 10.
Makarova, currently ranked 45, is the highest ranked player entered into qualifying in Wuhan, making it one of the toughest ranking cut-offs of any WTA qualifying draw this year.
Qualifying begins on 21st September and takes place over two rounds with just eight players winning through to join the likes of Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Garcia, Karolina Pliskova, Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka in the 64-player main draw.
Co-Tournament Director Fabrice Chouquet said:
“You know how strong your main draw is when you have Grand Slam champions and Olympians ready to go through qualifying to get into it. That’s such a healthy sign for the tournament and it’s wonderful for the fans to be able to see these amazing players in qualifying action over the first weekend of the event. It means that there will be world class tennis from the first ball of the tournament and that’s really going to set the tone for a fantastic week.”
Players entered qualifying for 2018 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open (27/8/18 pre-US Open ranking in brackets):
Ekaterina Makarova (45)
Petra Martic (47)
Agnieszka Radwanska (48)
Yulia Putinseva (50)
Sorana Cirstea (51)
Qiang Wang (52)
Katerina Siniakova (54)
Monica Puig (55)
Viktoria Kuzmova (56)
Kirsten Flipkens (57)
Ajla Tomljanovic (58)
Zarina Dyas (60)
Rebecca Peterson (61)
Monica Niculescu (62)
Saisai Zheng (63)
Samantha Stosur (64)
Sofia Kenin (65)
Jennifer Brady (66)
Magda Linette (68)
Alison Riske (75)
Polona Hercog (77)
Sachia Vickery (78)
Victoria Azarenka (79) – will receive a wildcard into MD
Ana Bogdan (83)
Lara Arruabarrena (85)
Sara Sorribes Toro (88)
Andrea Petkovic (89)
Yafan Wang (90)
Next in:
Bernarda Pera (92)
Christina McHale (97)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (102)
Marketa Vondrousova (103)
