WUHAN, September 12, 2024 (Press Release)
The DONGFENG VOYAH · WUHAN OPEN will celebrate its return to the WTA Tour this October with the strongest field in the tournament’s history.
All of this year’s Grand Slam singles champions will compete in the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season, held at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center 7-14t October. An impressive 29 of the current WTA Top 30 are scheduled to play in a field which includes seven Grand Slam singles champions in the Main Draw.
World No.1 and Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, Australian Open and newly-crowned US Open winner Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejickova, who lifted the Wimbledon trophy, will all be in Wuhan.
Sabalenka won Wuhan in 2018 and 2019, the last time the tournament was held, and will be returning to Wuhan as a three-time Grand Slam champion.
Other Grand Slam champions in the field are Elena Rybakina (Wimbledon 2022), Coco Gauff (US Open 2023), Jelena Ostapenko (Roland Garros 2017) and Victoria Azarenka (Australian Open 2012, 2013).
Like Swiatek, Gauff will be playing in Wuhan for the first time. Twenty-year-old Gauff will be among a group of younger players debuting in Wuhan, including 20-year-old Diana Snaider and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Local excitement will also centre around Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng, who grew up in Wuhan and has emerged this year as a Chinese superstar to rival Wuhan’s own Li Na. Zheng was runner-up at the Australian Open and is one of eight Grand Slam finalists in the draw, including her fellow 2024 major finalists Jasmine Paolini (Roland Garros, Wimbledon) and Jessica Pegula (US Open).
What’s on the line?
WTA 1000 mandatory tournaments, as the name suggests, offer 1000 ranking points to the winner and a total prizemoney purse of $3,211,715 so the DONGFENG VOYAH · WUHAN OPEN 2024 will be hotly contested as players look to finish the season with a flourish and boost their rankings ahead of 2025. A select few will be hoping to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, 2 – 9 November. At the time of writing only Sabalenka and Swiatek have qualified for the eight-player field.
Brenda Perry, Tournament Co-Director, said: “Being able to host the strongest field in our history is a fantastic way to celebrate the return of Wuhan Open. It is a great honour to now be one of just ten WTA 1000 tournaments worldwide, the highest category for a WTA tournament. This year it’s really special that the people of Wuhan will be able to cheer on an Olympic gold medallist of their own, Qinwen Zheng, who is now ranked in WTA Top 10 and will be one of the tournament’s top seeds.
There is great excitement across the city and the region about the return of Wuhan Open and our whole team is really looking forward to giving the players, their teams and all our friends from the WTA Tour a very warm welcome back here.”
CLICK HERE for a full list of players.
