Former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova has enjoyed a busy month on and off the court in China and hopes to cap her visit with a significant triumph in Zhuhai this week.
The Czech Republic star, who is the top seed for the 2023 Huafa Technology Zhuhai WTA Elite Trophy, was deeply impressed when visiting The Great Wall of China recently.
The 27-year-old, who is playing in her first WTA Elite Trophy championship, is also pleased with her time in Zhuhai so far, which includes a visit to the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, the world’s largest marine-themed resort.
“I went to the Great Wall of China and it was a really nice experience,” she said.
“I also went to the center of Beijing, and it was really, really nice. It was nice to see a different culture and a different history.
“This week here, I went to the ocean park here and I want to go back and do a few of the attractions that are here.”
Krejcikova, who has won singles titles in Dubai and Santiago this season, will play Magda Linette in her opening round-robin match of the US$2.6 million tournament on Tuesday.
“With Magda, I have played a couple of times with her and I practiced a couple of times with her,” Krejcikova said.
“I think, again, it is going to be difficult. She is my first opponent tomorrow, so I am really looking forward to that and I will try to play my best tennis.
“I feel really good. This tournament is very nice. The court is a little fast but it is nice. I have been practicing on it for some time.”
In other group action on the opening day of the 2023 Huafa Technology Zhuhai WTA Elite Trophy, American Madison Keys will play Brazilian trailblazer Beatriz Haddad Maia, while local wildcard Lin Zhu will play the 16th ranked Veronika Kudermetova.
The draw for the prestigious tournament, which counts world No.1s Venus Williams, Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka among the former champions, was held on Monday in Zhuhai.
The other player in the Azalea group headed by Krejcikova is No. 6 seed Daria Kasatkina.Keys, the No.2 seed, heads the Camellia group featuring Haddad Maia and France’s Carolina Garcia, the WTA Finals champion in 2022.
Another former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko heads the Orchid group featuring Chinese star Qinwen Zheng and Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
The Rose group features Luidmila Samsonova, Kudermetova and Zhu.
The top-placed woman from each group after the group stages are completed will progress to knock-out semi-finals on Friday at the Hengqin International Tennis Center.
Keys, who played brilliantly in the U.S. Open last month when reaching the semi-finals, said she is determined to finish the season strongly.
“I really, really wanted to win and to lose in the final sets, the two tiebreakers, it was a really tough match (at the U.S. Open),” she said.
“But I took a lot of good positives from that match, so I am trying to build on that going into next year and trying to learn from the experience.
“I have been pretty boring (since arriving in Zhuhai). I am trying to finish the year on a really good note, so I have been really focused on practicing.”
The first round-robin match in the women’s doubles will also be played on Tuesday, with Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri and Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok playing Chinese combination Xiua Wang and Yifan Xu.
Japan’s Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi are the other combination in the Bougainvillea group.
The Lily group features Haddad Maia and Kudermetova, who also feature in the singles tournament, along with the pairing of Oksana Kalashnikova and Yana Sizikova and the combination of Xinyu Jiang and Qianhui Tang.
