The final WTA mandatory event kicks off in Beijing today where 17 of the world’s top 20 ranked women will vie for the title in the $4.5 million event. Only world no. 2 Maria Sharapova (a late withdrawal due to an ankle injury she suffered in Tokyo on Thursday), world no. 9 Kim Clijsters and world no. 14 Serena Williams are missing from the roster.
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After an early exit in Tokyo, world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki will be hoping to make a deep run this week in the 60 player draw where the semi-finalists of the Tokyo event have received first round byes. But the Dane does not have an easy draw. She could meet world no. 34 Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round and then Kaia Kanepi, who beat her in Tokyo a few days ago, or Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki in the third round. An intriguing first round match pits former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic against 41 year old Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Victoria Azarenka will be another player to watch as she looks to topple an absent Sharapova from the no. 2 spot in the rankings with a deep run here; and US Open champion Samantha Stosur will be hoping to put her second round loss in Tokyo behind her with a good performance in the Chinese capital.
Most of the top players will be looking to solidify their place in the race to the WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul later this month. As of now, only Wozniacki and Sharapova have qualified for the eight-player round-robin event which means players are fighting for six open spots.
China’s hopes will rest on the 4th seed Li Na, the French Open champion, who has struggled since winning her first Slam title and is also now back with her husband as the coach; Shuai Peng is seeded 12th and there are 4 local wild cards including two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Jie Zheng.
Also vying for the title will be world no. 3 Vera Zvonareva, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former French Open champions Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
