The final WTA 1000 tournament of the season takes place at the Wuhan Open, and the draw for the event has been unveiled.
This year's Wuhan Open will run from October 7th to 13th. The tournament has not been held since 2019 due to very stringent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the area from 2020 until 2023.
Aryna Sabalenka is the No. 1 seed in the tournament's strong draw. Coco Gauff, who won her second WTA 1000 title at the China Open in Beijing heading into the event, is another high-profile name who will compete in Wuhan.
Unfortunately, some of the biggest players in the women's game are missing. Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Wuhan Open, announcing she needed some time to appoint and start working with a new coach after splitting with Tomasz Wiktorowski.
Elena Rybakina and Emma Raducanu are two other former Grand Slam champions who cannot compete in Wuhan. Raducanu has been missing since spraining ligaments in her foot after 31 minutes of her Korea Open quarterfinal a couple of weeks ago.
Swiatek's withdrawal gives Sabalenka a great opportunity to become world No. 1. If she reaches the quarterfinal, the Belarusian will overtake Swiatek in the rankings the week after the Wuhan Open.
Sabalenka will start her tournament against Katerina Siniakova or Alexandra Eala. Although Siniakova, a nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion, is a solid singles competitor, the US Open champion would expect to win that match.
However, the following round may be far more challenging. Sabalenka could face Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic, against whom she has a losing 2-6 head-to-head record, including a defeat in Dubai earlier this year.
Emma Navarro is a possible opponent quarterfinal opponent for Sabalenka, but the No. 6 seed might need to overcome either Madison Keys or Beatriz Haddad Maia before that, meaning that matchup is far from certain.
Navarro is locked in a tight battle with Qinwen Zheng for the last qualifying spot for the WTA Finals. Swiatek, Sabalenka, and Barbora Krejcikova have booked their places, but the four players above Navarro also look sure to qualify.
Danielle Collins also has a mathematical chance of qualifying, but she withdrew from the Wuhan Open due to an illness. That gives Zheng and Navarro an opportunity to pull away if they play well at the final WTA 1000 event of the year.
Sabalenka or Navarro could face Gauff in the semifinal. The China Open champion has Daria Kasatkina in her quarter and her powerful and dangerous compatriot Amanda Anisimova as a possible third-round opponent.
On the other side of the draw, Zheng and Jasmine Paolini might meet in the quarterfinal. Zheng could also play last week's China Open finalist Karolina Muchova in the second round, but it is unclear if the Czech will play so soon after due to her history of injury issues.
Jessica Pegula, Paula Badosa, and the Wimbledon Champion are possible semifinal opponents for Zheng or Paolini. Pegula and Badosa may also face each other for a second tournament in a row after the Spaniard comfortably defeated Pegula in Beijing last week.
| Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|
| Aryna Sabalenka [1] | BYE |
| Alexandra Eala [WC] | Katerina Siniakova |
| Yulia Putintseva | Shuai Zhang |
| Elise Mertens | Donna Vekic [15] |
| Beatriz Haddad Maia [9] | Madison Keys |
| Marie Bouzkova | Veronika Kudermetova |
| Qualifier/LL | Magdalena Frech |
| BYE | Emma Navarro [6] |
| Coco Gauff [4] | BYE |
| Ashlyn Krueger | Viktoriya Tomova |
| Amanda Anisimova | Qualifier/LL |
| Elina Avanesyan | Marta Kostyuk [13] |
| Liudmila Samsonova [11] | Magda Linette |
| Qualifier/LL | Katie Boulter |
| Qualifier/LL | Irina-Camelia Begu |
| BYE | Daria Kasatkina [8] |
| Qinwen Zheng [5] | BYE |
| Qualifier/LL | Jaqueline Cristian [WC] |
| Karolina Muchova | Qualifier/LL |
| Leylah Fernandez | Diana Shnaider [12] |
| Mirra Andreeva [16] | Xiyu Wang |
| Dayana Yastremska | Qualifier/LL |
| Yue Yuan | Qualifier/LL |
| BYE | Jasmine Paolini [3] |
| Barbora Krejcikova [7] | BYE |
| Diane Parry | Qualifier/LL |
| Sofia Kenin | Ekaterina Alexandrova |
| Qualifier/LL | Anna Kalinskaya [10] |
| Paula Badosa [14] | Ajla Tomljanovic |
| Xinyu Wang | Caroline Dolehide |
| Anastasia Potapova | Katie Volynets [WC] |
| BYE | Jessica Pegula [2] |