Chinese stars to feature among contenders in the prestigious year-end event Zhuhai: Sunday, October 22, 2023

A stunning field led by Grand Slam Champions Barbora Krejcikova and Jelena Ostapenko, along with China’s Zheng Qinwen, will vie for one of the most prestigious tennis titles on the WTA Tour over the next week in Zhuhai.

The 2023 Huafa Technology Zhuhai WTA Elite Trophy has drawn some of the world’s best singles players and doubles teams to compete at the Hengqin International Tennis Center.

The esteemed WTA season-ending event, which runs from October 24 to 29, has been won by former  world No.1s Venus Williams, Ash Barty and the incumbent Aryna Sabalenka.

The confidence that both Barty and Sabalenka gained from succeeding against the highest quality fields in Zhuhai helped them to progress to becoming Grand Slam champions.

So strong is the depth of the 12-player field competing for the record US$2.6 million in prize money  this year, every player is ranked inside the world’s top 35.

2023 Huafa Technology WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai co-Tournament Director Brenda Perry said “those  who have qualified for the event have had an outstanding season”.

“It is a special accomplishment achieved by only a very few,” she said .

“We look forward to joining with the people of Zhuhai and Guangdong Province in giving a very warm welcome back to these elite international athletes on their return to Zhuhai and China.”

Krejcikova, who won both the singles and doubles at Roland Garros in 2021, and the 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko have excelled at the highest level of tennis.

Other leading contenders include Madison Keys, a US Open semi-finalist in September, and  Liudmila Samsonova, who was a recent finalist at China Open.

Veronika Kudermetova won the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in October, Magda Linette reached the  semi-finals at the Australian Open and Caroline Garcia was last year’s WTA Finals champion.

The 12-player field will be broken into four groups of three, with the initial stages of the tournament played as a round-robin format.

The winner of each group will progress to the semi-finals of a tournament which awards 700 WTA  Ranking points to the champion.

Zheng Qinwen has established herself as one of the world’s most exciting players in 2023 and is certain to be a crowd favorite alongside her compatriot Zhu Lin, a wildcard entrant .

The 21-year-old Qinwen has enjoyed a stellar season, which includes winning a maiden WTA Tour  title in Palermo in July and also her first title on home soil at the Zhengzhou Open. 

In Zhengzhou, Qinwen, who is ranked at a career-high No.19, defeated Krejcikova, the No.1 seed in  the Huafa Technology WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, in the final.

More recently the athletic right-hander, who is coached by Rob Brandsma, secured a spot in the  Paris Olympics by winning a gold medal for China in the Hangzhou Asian Games. 

A quarter-finalist at the US Open in September, Qinwen’s successes in China in recent months  demonstrates just how much she loves performing for her fans.

“When I was competing overseas, there weren’t many fans when I practiced. But coming back to China, I have a lot of Chinese fans cheering for me,” she said.

Krejcikova, a titleist in Dubai and Santiago this season, will appear for the first time in Zhuhai.

Ostapenka returned to her best form this year when winning a title in Birmingham leading into Wimbledon and also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian and US Opens.

A highlight of Brazilian Beatriz Haddad-Maia’s history-making season was her appearance in a semi-final at Roland Garros. She is the first Brazilian woman to achieve a top 10 ranking.

Daria Kasatkina, a finalist at two WTA Tour events in 2023 and Donna Vekic a titleist and finalist at two WTA Tour events in 2023, round out a superb field .

A wildcard into the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai 2023 provides talented Chinese player Zhu Lin an opportunity to excel against the world’s leading players .

The 29-year-old, who peaked at a career-high ranking of 31 in September, has enjoyed a breakout season.

After starting the year in promising fashion at the Australian Open, where she reached the 4th Round, Lin claimed her first WTA Tour title at the Thailand Open in February .

Having admired Swiss champion Martina Hingis as a child, Lin played in the WTA Rising Stars Invitational in Singapore in 2015 and has matured to become a top-tier talent on tour.

It was in Singapore that China’s most successful player Li Na offered a piece of advice she has remembered throughout her career.

“She said something to me that was really inspiring. She said, ‘You can do it. You just need to trust yourself,’” Lin said.

The Doubles event will feature Kudermetova and Haddad Maia, Aldila Sutjiadi and Miyu Kato, Ulrikke Eikeri and Lyudmyla Kichenok, Oksana Kalashnikova and Yana Sizikova.