As the Asian swing on the WTA tour heads to the business end of the season, with the first Premier done and dusted last week and the first Premier 5 at the quarter-final stage in Wuhan, the race for the last remaining places for the WTA Finals is gaining momentum.
Two women have already sealed their places, in the shape of Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Pliskova, but current No3, Simona Halep, was forced to retire from her third-round match against Elena Rybakina. She said that the ‘sharp pain’ in her lower back felt in ‘the same zone’ as the injury which kept her out for three months at the end of 2018.
Naomi Osaka rose to fifth place in the Race to Shenzhen after winning the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the Premier in Osaka last week. She will join the rest of the tour for the biggest event of the Asian swing, the prestigious Premier Mandatory in Beijing, and is also signed up for Tianjin in the following week.
French Open champion Barty has reached the Wuhan quarter-finals, and will hold on to the No1 ranking, which was up for grabs again this week, but after Pliskova, who leads the WTA in match-wins after her 50th victory of the year in Round 2, lost to Dayanna Yastremska. So Barty will remain at the top ahead of Beijing.
This week, though, there are 900 points available to the winner in Wuhan, and both the defending WTA Finals champion, No3 seed Elina Svitolina, and No5 seed and two-time former Wuhan titlist, Petra Kvitova, have strengthened their position in the current top eight by reaching the quarter-finals.
But, as has been the case through 2019, the tournament shows that a young generation of players is on the march.
Nineteen-year-old Dayana Yastremska and 20-year-old Rybakina joined established young stars Barty and Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals of the Premier 5 event.
Ukrainian Yastremska notched-up her first win over a top-10 player when she dispatched Pliskova in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Making her debut at the Wuhan Open, the teenager commented on her climb up the rankings this year, from 110 to 27, as well as the success of fellow young stars Bianca Andreescu and Coco Gauff:
“I’m really happy that now the young generation is coming up. It’s really time for us. Every one of them is really good. They’re different. It’s nice to see how we are improving and getting closer to the top.”
The next task for Yastremska will be taking on Kvitova who beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The former Wuhan champion claimed she was ready to hold off the surge of the youngsters in her match-up with Yastremksa:
“I’m going to try not to give it to young ones yet, we are still here. But she’s a talented player, she’s pretty pumped, she’s in good form beating Karolina tonight. It’s a good one for her and I need to be prepared.”
The 20-year-old Rybakina claimed her quarter-final place with Halep’s retirement. Her opponent in the quarter-finals will be Wuhan Open defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who was in impressive form against Kiki Bertens, taking a 6-1, 5-1 lead, and managed to hold on to her lead to edge the win, 6-1 7-6(9).
Sabalenka, at only 21-years-old, knows that Rybakina will be relishing the opportunity to make a breakthrough, having been in the same position herself in Wuhan last year:
“She’s a great player. Kind of next generation, but I think it’s my generation. I think she has same feeling like me, nothing to lose, one year before. She’s going to bring her best game.”
Alison Riske claimed another of the quarter-final spots, defeating home favourite, Wang Qiang, 6-2, 6-1. The American will now face Svitolina, who was impressive against qualifier Svetlana Kuznetsova, taking a straight-sets win 6-4, 6-2.
The Race to Shenzhen
1. Ashleigh Barty [qualified]; [into Wuhan QF]
2. Karolina Pliskova [qualified]
3. Simona Halep
4. Bianca Andreescu
5. Naomi Osaka
6. Petra Kvitova [into Wuhan QF]
7. Serena Williams
8. Elina Svitolina [into Wuhan QF]
9. Belinda Bencic
10. Kiki Bertens
11. Johanna Konta [not playing Asian swing]
12. Sofia Kenin
13. Madison Keys
14. Petra Martic [into Wuhan QF]
15. Marketa Vondrousova
16. Angelique Kerber
17. Donna Vekic
18. Elise Mertens
19. Aryna Sabalenka [into Wuhan QF]
20. Amanda Anisimov
Asian Swing through to WTA Finals [2019 champions, runners-up]
· Hiroshima International [Nao Hibino, Misaki Doi]
· Zhengzhou Open Premier [Pliskova, Petra Martic]
· Nanchang International [Rebecca Peterson, Rybakina]
· Guangzhou International [Sofia Kenin, Sam Stosur]
· Seoul International [Karolina Muchova, Magda Linette]
· Osaka Premier [Osaka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova]
· Wuhan Premier 5
· Tashkent International
· Beijing Premier Mandatory
· Linz International
· Tianjin International
· Moscow Premier
· Luxembourg International
· Zhuhai WTA Elite Trophy
· Shenzhen WTA Finals