While the men have spent the last two weekends teaming up for Davis Cup and Laver Cup, the women have been busy getting a jump on the month-long Asian swing that closes out their season. It hasn’t taken them long to make news. On Sunday, Caroline Wozniacki finally won a tournament in 2017, in Tokyo, even as the two US Open finalists, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, crashed out in the opening round of this week’s big-money event in Wuhan.
Fortunately, the Americans weren’t the only bold-faced names in the Wuhan draw. Here’s a look at what’s at stake in that well-stocked tournament, as well as at the week’s other three events:
Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open (WTA)
*Wuhan, China
$2,365,250; Premier 5
Hard court
Draw is here*
Two years ago, there didn’t seem to be room for another fully-loaded, $2.4 million, Premier 5 draw in the middle of the WTA’s already-jammed fall schedule. But Wuhan’s organizers and sponsors wedged their way in, and the tour’s elite players have followed them to the hometown of Li Na. Eight of the Top 10, including Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Wozniacki, Johanna Konta and Jelena Ostapenko, were in the Wuhan draw to start.
How many will remain by, say, Wednesday? As Keys and Stephens showed in their straight-set defeats, it can take a little while for the players to get their fall-season legs under them. But there will be benefits to anyone who can. The race to the year-end event in Singapore, and the race for the year-end No. 1 ranking, are very much on here. Muguruza, Halep, Pliskova, and Wozniacki are all within striking distance of the top spot.
Second-round matches to watch: Halep vs. Daria Kasatkina; Pliskova vs. Shuai Zhang; Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Julia Goerges
Tashkent Open (WTA)
*Tashkent, Uzbekistan
$226,750; International
Hard court
Draw is here*
Tashkent can’t compete with Wuhan for prize money, or for players. There are two million fewer dollars on the line, and no one in the Top 40 to compete for them; 41st-ranked Kristyna—not her twin, Karolina—Pliskova is the top seed, followed by 52nd-ranked Timea Babos.
More interesting, perhaps, is the fate of a qualifier, Vera Zvonareva. The 33-year-old Russian, a former Wimbledon finalist and new mother, is in the midst of a comeback after getting married and having her first child last year. She won her first-round match over No. 4 seed Irina-Camelia Begu.