WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION MATCH NOTES

ZHUHAI, CHINA | OCTOBER 22-27, 2019 | $2,419,844

wtatennis.com | facebook.com/WTA | twitter.com/WTA | youtube.com/WTA Tournament Website: www.en.wtaelitetrophy.com | @WTAEliteTrophy | facebook.com/wtaelitetrophy WTA Communications: Chase Altieri ([email protected]), Bryan Shapiro ([email protected]), Ellie Emerson (eemerson@ wtatennis.com), Teyva Sammet ([email protected]) HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI - DAY 4

[2] SOFIA KENIN (USA #12) vs. [11] KAROLINA MUCHOVA (CZE #26) First meeting Kenin has won 38 matches on hard courts in 2019, more than any other player on tour... Muchova is coming off SF run at Moscow... Winner will advance to last four

[5] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #15) vs. [12] SAISAI ZHENG (CHN #40) First meeting Zheng needs to win seven games to advance to the SF... Martic reached here in China, last month at Zhengzhou... Zheng bidding to become the third Chinese player in tournament’s history to reach the SF

[4] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #14) vs. [6] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #18) Mertens leads 2-1 Mertens saved a match point during victory over Sabalenka at 2018 Montreal... Sabalenka owns 30-7 record in tour-level matches in China... Pair will be playing doubles at next week’s WTA Finals in Shenzhen

MATCH NOTES ZHUHAI - CHINA | Oct 22 - Oct 27, 2019 | $2,419,844 | CH

[2] SOFIA KENIN (USA #12) vs. [11] KAROLINA MUCHOVA (CZE #26)

Head to Head: First meeting

SOFIA KENIN KAROLINA MUCHOVA 12 WTA RANKING 26 12 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 26 14-11-1998 (20) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 21-08-1996 (23) $1,735,217 YTD PRIZE MONEY $934,515 $2,616,692 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $1,194,382 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 3 / 3 1 / 1 2 / 2 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 0 ZHUHAI W-L (MD) * 1-0 1-0 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 49-21 / 69-42 27-12 / 29-14 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 17-11 / 26-18 8-6 / 9-7 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 13-7 / 17-9 7-3 / 7-3 YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 38-14 / 53-28 17-8 / 19-10 1-1 / 2-3 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 1-3 / 1-3 2-5 / 2-6 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-2 / 1-2 5-9 / 7-12 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-6 / 1-6 11-11 / 14-20 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 4-7 / 5-8 * Including 2019 Zhuhai RR results

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

[2] SOFIA KENIN (USA #12) [11] KAROLINA MUCHOVA (CZE #26)

RR: d. [7] ALISON RISKE (USA #19) 6-4,6-4 (1h14) RR: d. [7] ALISON RISKE (USA #19) 2-6,6-2,7-5 (1h58)

ZHUHAI Tournament History "-Q" Qualifying match

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ZHUHAI ZHUHAI

• Making Zhuhai debut • Making debut appearance at Zhuhai - one of seven • Broke serve twice in tight opening match win over debutantes in draw No.19 Riske - 49th main draw win of the season - • Recovered from 3-1 down in the third set to upset only Bertens (53),Barty (52) and Ka.Pliskova (50) No.19 Riske in opening round robin match on Thurs- have posted more day. Has now won 17 of last 22 matches • Marked third time there has been an all-nation clash • Faces No.12 Kenin in second round robin match. In at Zhuhai after V.Williams d. Keys in 2015 and Kvito- addition to Riske, three other Top 20 wins in 2019 va d. Strycova in 2016 were over No.17 Kontaveit (Roland Garros), No.20 • Faces Muchova today with the winner reaching SF Kontaveit (Wimbledon) and No.3 Ka.Pliskova (Wim- • Leads the tour for hard court wins in 2019 (38), bledon) ahead of Andreescu (34) • Only Czech in the draw. A Czech has made the • Has been involved in 28 three-set matches in Zhuhai final twice (Ka.Pliskova - R-Up in 2015 and 2019 (17-11 record); tied with Bencic for third most Kvitova - WON in 2016) three-set matches played, trailing Bertens (29) and • Contesting 2019 Zhuhai on career-high ranking of Ka.Pliskova (30) No.26, which she posted on Monday October 21; by • In 2019 has won the most tie-breaks on tour with a contrast, was No.141 this time last year 13-7 record and at 20 total tie-breaks played, trails Bertens (23) who holds the top spot • Contesting Zhuhai ranked at a career-high No.12 SEASON (first achieved October 21, 2019). This time last year was No.49 • Coming off reaching maiden Premier-level SF, at • Currently the second-highest ranked American after Moscow (l. Pavlyuchenkova) No.9 S.Williams • Made 1r exit at Beijing (I. Keys) • Has reached all three career hard court finals this • Claimed maiden WTA title at Seoul (d. Linette in F) year, winning Hobart and Guangzhou and finishing • Posted 3r appearance at Flushing Meadows (I. even- R-Up at Acapulco tual R-Up S.Williams) • Made QF showing at the Bronx (I. eventual champi- on Linette) SEASON • Reached career best Grand Slam result with Wimble- don QF (I. Svitolina). Defeated No.3 Ka.Pliskova in • Reached 3r at Beijing (l. Svitolina) Rl6 for first Top 10 victory of career, recovered from • Made R16 showing at Wuhan (l. Barty) 5-3 down in the final setto win 13-11 in 3hrs 19min • Began Asian swing with QF showing at Zhengzhou (l. • Opened grass court season with 1r exit at ‘s-Herto- Ka.Pliskova) before lifting third career title at Guang- genbosch (I. eventual champion Riske) zhou (d. Stosur in F); rose to career-high No.17 • Fell 2r at Roland Garros on main draw debut (d. following Guangzhou (September 23, 2019) Kontaveit, I. Begu) • North American hard court season ended with 3r run • Finished R-Up in Prague (I. qualifier Tiechmann) at US Open (l. Keys) • Made 2r at Monterrey (I. Kerber) and came through • Made back-to-back SF runs at Cincinnati (l. eventual qualifying in Miami to reach R16 (d. Hibino, I. Kerber) champion Keys) and Toronto (l. eventual champion • Came through qualifying to reach maiden Premier Andreescu); broke into Top 20 following Cincinnati QF at Doha (I. Svitolina) • Scored four Top 10 wins across Toronto and Cincin- • Qualified at the Australian Open, falling to Ka.Plisko- nati, defeating No.7 Svitolina at both tournaments, va in 1r as well as No.1 Osaka (Cincinnati via ret. w/left knee • 2019 Australian Open marked her second main draw injury) and No.1 Barty (Toronto) for her first Top 5 up- appearance at the majors (following 2018 US Open) sets – youngest American to defeat a reigning No.1 • Kicked off 2019 season at Brisbane, making qualify- in eight years (McHale d. Wozniacki at Cincinnati) ing exit (I. Potapova after holding 2MP) • Produced 2r showing at Washington, DC (l. Davis) • Highlight of grass court season was lifting second career title, at Mallorca (d. Bencic in F after saving CAREER MILESTONES 3MP; beat No.11 Sevastova and No.20 Mertens en route). Also fell 1r at Eastbourne (l. Stosur) and 2r at • Ended 2018 ranked No.145, her first Top 200 season Wimbledon (l. Yastremska) (up from her previous best of No.208 in 2016) • Reached R16 for first time at a Slam at Roland Gar- • 2018 season highlight was making Grand Slam main ros (d. S.Williams in 3r, l. eventual champion Barty) draw debut at US Open (as qualifier, I. Barty in 3r) SOFIA KAROLINA KENIN VS MUCHOVA

SEASON CONT. CAREER CONT.

• Made 1r exit at Strasbourg (l. Paquet) after R16 • Also contested WTA qualifying in 2018 at Stuttgart, showing at Rome (d. No.14 Keys in 2r, l. eventual Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Luxembourg champion Ka.Pliskova) • Reached three ITF Circuit finals in 2018, including • Fell 1r at Madrid (l. Kvitova) back-to-back finals at $25k ITF/Altenkirchen-GER • Scored career first Fed Cup win against Bacsinszky (I. Dart) and $60k ITF/Croissy-Beauborg-FRA (I. in April at Fed Cup playoff victory over Switzerland Blinkova) • Made 2r at Charleston (l. Puig); win over Lisicki in 1r • Also reached the final at $80k ITF/Olomouc-CZE (I. was first career tour-level victory on clay Ferro) • Posted 2r showings at Indian Wells (l. Svitolina) and • Claimed maiden WTA title at 2019 Seoul (d. Linette Miami (after 1r bye, l. Andreescu) in F) • Finished R-Up at Acapulco (l. Wang in F) • Made WTA main draw debut at 2017 Seoul (as quali- • Advanced to R16 at Dubai (l. Kuzmova) fier, I. Hon). Also contested qualifying at ‘s-Hertogen- • Part of US team that lost to Australia in Fed Cup bosch and Tokyo [Japan Open] and finished R-Up at World Group first round (l. singles rubber to Barty) one ITF Circuit event • Made 2r at Australian Open (l. Halep after leading • Won second career ITF Circuit title in 2016 and post- 4-2 in final set) ed 39-18 win-loss record; at tour-level fell in qualify- • Lifted maiden career title at Hobart (d. Schmiedlova ing at US Open in F) without dropping a set • On ITF Circuit has won two titles in singles and one • Opened 2019 season with 2r exit at Auckland (l. Kuz- in doubles mova); won maiden WTA doubles title w/Bouchard • Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Croatia in 2013 CAREER MILESTONES

• Broke into the Top 100 on March 19, 2018, Top 50 on GRAND SLAM HISTORY October 8, 2018 and Top 20 on August 19, 2019 • Advanced to first WTA level SF in 2018 at Mallorca • 2019 US Open marked fifth Grand Slam main draw as a qualifier, also reaching this stage later in the of her career season at Québec City • Earned career best result with QF appearance at • Represented the USA in their 3-0 Fed Cup final de- 2019 Wimbledon defeating No.20 Kontaveit and feat to the Czech Republic in November 2018 No.3 Ka.Pliskova en route (I. Svitolina) Reached • Opened 2018 with first tour-level QF at Auckland 3r at 2018 US Open in her main draw debut at the • Holds 7-12 career record vs. Top 10 opponents, majors (as qualifier, I. Barty in 3r) and 2019 (I. R-Up having defeated No.6 Garcia (2018 Mallorca), No.10 S.Williams) Goerges (2018 Wuhan), No.10 S.Williams (2019 • Fell 2r at 2019 Roland Garros and 1rat 2019 Austra- Roland Garros), No.1 Barty (2019 Toronto), No.7 lian Open Svitolina (both at 2019 Toronto and 2019 Cincinnati) • Earned USDS156,000 in prize money during last and No.1 Osaka (2019 Cincinnati) year’s Flushing Meadows run, more than doubling • Compiled 47-28 record (all levels) in 2017, finishing her career total at a career-high No.113. Campaign highlighted by 3r • Previously fell in qualifying at US Open in 2016, and run at US Open, 2r at Québec City (l. Safarova) and Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2018 one ITF Circuit title • On ITF Circuit owns four singles and two doubles titles PERSONAL • Played first matches on ITF Circuit in March 2013 • Climbed as high as No.2 in the ITF Junior Rankings • Born in city of Olomouc in eastern Czech Republic, • Represented the US at the 2014 Youth Olympic but moved to train in Prague this year Games and competed at the 2016 ITF Junior Mas- • Started playing tennis at aged seven with dad, a ters, both held in China former professional footballer in Czech Republic • Roger Federer was tennis idol growing up • Coached by Emil Miske SOFIA KAROLINA KENIN VS MUCHOVA

GRAND SLAM HISTORY

• Produced best Grand Slam result by reaching R16 at Roland Garros (l. eventual champion Barty); in 3r became first American to defeat S.Williams at the majors since Stephens at 2013 Australian Open QF • Made Slam main draw debut at 2015 US Open as a wildcard – received for being crowned USTA Girls’ 18s National Champion. Fell 1r to Duque Mariño • Reached 3r at 2017 US Open as a wildcard (l. Sharapova), in what was only fourth tour-level main draw outing. Repeated feat in 2018 (l. Ka.Pliskova) and again in 2019 (l. Keys) • Made 2r at Australian Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2018-19 PERSONAL

• Born in Moscow, moved to New York as a baby before family settled in Florida. Now resides in Pem- broke Pines, Florida, where she was home-schooled • Known as ‘Sonya’ • Coached by father Alexander Kenin with support Lorenzo Cava; trains at ProWorld Academy in Delray Beach, Florida • Best tennis memory is playing idol Maria Sharapova on Arthur Ashe (US Open 2017) • If not a tennis player would be a fashion designer • Dream doubles partners would be Serena Williams and Grigor Dimitrov • Good friends with CiCi Bellis and Katie Swan • Likes rap music, especially Drake • Treat food is Froyo - cookies and cream with Her- shey’s on top

MATCH NOTES ZHUHAI - CHINA | Oct 22 - Oct 27, 2019 | $2,419,844 | CH

[5] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #15) vs. [12] SAISAI ZHENG (CHN #40)

Head to Head: First meeting

PETRA MARTIC SAISAI ZHENG 15 WTA RANKING 40 15 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 40 19-01-1991 (28) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 05-02-1994 (25) $1,773,381 YTD PRIZE MONEY $1,016,939 $4,707,886 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $3,379,787 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 1 / 1 1 / 1 0 / 0 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 1 / 4 ZHUHAI W-L (MD) * 0-1 1-2 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 34-17 / 124-121 21-22 / 70-104 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 16-3 / 54-32 8-5 / 24-29 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 4-6 / 29-28 11-3 / 21-11 YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 13-12 / 64-74 18-15 / 61-76 2-1 / 8-9 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-1 / 5-5 1-3 / 2-14 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-2 / 2-6 1-8 / 4-28 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-4 / 5-10 4-11 / 15-45 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 3-9 / 9-22 * Including 2019 Zhuhai RR results

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

[5] PETRA MARTIC (CRO #15) [12] SAISAI ZHENG (CHN #40)

RR: L - [3] MADISON KEYS (USA #13) 6-3,6-4 (1h10) RR: d. [3] MADISON KEYS (USA #13) 6-4,6-2 (1h31)

"-Q" Qualifying match

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ZHUHAI ZHUHAI

• Making debut appearance at WTA Elite Trophy • Making second appearance at WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Zhuhai, as wildcard • Fell to Keys during first round robin match, however, • Fell in the round robin stage in her only other appear- is still in contention to advance to SF ance here in 2015 • Must win today’s match against wildcard Zheng while • Defeated No.13 Keys in opening round robin match conceding just six games or fewer to book SF spot to claim third Top 20 win of the season, also defeat- • Is first Croatian player to contest singles at WTA Elite ing No.12 Stephens (Beijing) and No.10 Sabalenka Trophy Zhuhai (San Jose) • Has won 16 three-set matches in 2019 - only four • Faces No.15 Martic for the first time today; must win players on tour have won more (Bencic – 19, Ka.Plis- seven games to advance to maiden Zhuhai SF kova – 18, Barty – 17 and Kenin - 17) • Enters tournament ranked No.40 (three spots off • Playing Zhuhai at a career-high ranking of No.15 career-high ranking, achieved on August 19, 2019) • During last year’s Asian swing, fell 2r at Hiroshima, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and Hong Kong, before SEASON lifting ITF Circuit title at $100K Suzhou-CHN • Owns a fine record on home soil, in addition to three • Lost to Mertens in 1r at Beijing WTA 125K Series titles, she reached her maiden • Reached QF at Wuhan (l. Barty) WTA final at 2018 Nanchang and has advanced to • Finished R-Up at Zhengzhou (d. No.13 Sabalenka three further SFs in QF, l. Ka.Pliskova); record in WTA singles finals is now 1-3 • Reached R16 for the first time at US Open (l. S.Wil- SEASON liams) • Suffered 1r exits at Toronto (l. Di Lorenzo) and Cin- • Coming off 2r exit at Tianjin (l. Kudermetova) cinnati (l. Sabalenka) • Posted R16 run at China Open (l. Barty) • Enjoyed a successful grass-court campaign, reach- • Opened Asian swing with QF run at Zhengzhou (l. ing SF at Birmingham (l. Goerges) and advancing Tomljanovic) before 2r exit at Guangzhou (l. Paolini) to R16 at Wimbledon (l. Svitolina). Went 6-2 on the • Suffered 1r exit at US Open (l. V.Williams) surface, improving from last year’s 1-3 record • Made 2r at Cincinnati (l. Sabalenka) and fell 1r at To- • Rose to then-career-high No.20 in the rankings fol- ronto (l. Maria); rose to career-high ranking of No.37 lowing Wimbledon showing (week of July 15, 2019) after Cincinnati (August 19, 2019) • Reached first Slam QF of career at Roland Garros • Lifted maiden WTA singles title at San Jose; upset (l. Vondrousova); upset No.2 seed and No.2-ranked No.23 Anisimova, No.30 Sakkari and No.10 Sabalen- Ka.Pliskova in 3r to register fourth Top 10 win of ka in the final to register her first Top 30 wins since career (and best by ranking) May 2017 (No.10 Svitolina) • Ended clay court season with 15-3 record – joint-best • Now owns five career Top 10 wins, having previously on tour with Vondrousova beaten No.6 Kvitova (via. ret at 2016 Shenzhen), • Withdrew from Strasbourg w/back injury No.2 Kerber (2016 Doha), No.5 A.Radwanska (2016 • Advanced to QF at Madrid, defeating Muguruza and Olympics) and No.10 Svitolina (2017 Madrid) Kerber en route (l. Stephens) • On grass, made 1r exits at Mallorca (l. Stosur), East- • Lifted maiden career WTA title at Istanbul (d. Von- bourne (l. Vondrousova) and Wimbledon (l. Barty) drousova in F) • Fell 1r at Roland Garros (l. Q.Wang); bounced back • In April, reached first Premier-level SF of career at to reach doubles final (w/Duan, l. Babos/Mladenovic) Charleston (l. Wozniacki) • Leading into Paris, suffered 1r exit at Rome (l.Mugu- • During Sunshine Double made 1r exit at Indian Wells ruza) and made 2r at Strasbourg (l. Kostyuk) (l. Linette) and reached 2r at Miami (d. S.Zhang, l. • Recorded best result at a Premier Mandatory event eventual R-Up Ka.Pliskova) with R16 run at Madrid (l. Stephens) • Made 1r exit at Dubai (l. Siniakova) • Won the new WTA 125K Series clay court event in • Advanced to 3r at Australian Open (l. Stephens) Anning, China (d. Zhang in F) • Fell 1r in season opener at Auckland (l. Kenin) • During the Sunshine Double, made 1r exits at Indian Wells (l. Mladenovic) and Miami (l. Siniakova) • Advanced to QF at Acapulco (l. Andreescu) • Won doubles title at Acapulco w/Azarenka (d. Kraw- czyk/Olmos in F); fourth career WTA doubles title • Made 2r exit at Dubai (l. Muguruza) PETRA ZHENG MARTIC VS SAISAI

CAREER MILESTONES SEASON CONT.

• Posted best season finish of career in 2018, at • Represented China in Asia/Oceania Group I of the No.32, with a career-best 26-17 win-loss record Fed Cup in February, losing singles rubber to Diyas • Highlights of 2018 season included reaching second of Kazahkstan in 2-1 the promotional play-off WTA singles final of career at Bucharest (l. Sevasto- • Reached QF at Hua Hin (l. Tomljanovic) va), QF at Indian Wells (d. No.6 Ostapenko, l. Halep) • Opened 2019 with 1r losses at Shenzhen (l. Parmen- and R16 at Australian Open (l. Mertens) tier) and Australian Open (l. Muguruza) • Also in 2018 won WTA 125K Series title at Chicago (d. Barthel in F) • In 2017, notched first Top 20 win in nearly five years CAREER MILESTONES over No.13 Keys at Roland Garros – marked first match against a Top 20 player since 2015 Guang- • Lifted maiden career title at 2019 San Jose; upset of zhou (l. No.2 Halep). Followed this by upsetting Anisimova in SF was her 300th career win (all levels) No.19 Sevastova in 3r • Posted best year-end finish at No.46 in 2018 – first • In April 2017 played her first event after 10 months Top 50 finish of career, up from No.94 in 2017 out with a back injury, coming through qualifying to • 2018 season highlights included maiden WTA singles win $25k ITF/Santa Margherita Di Pula-ITA (previous final at Nanchang (ret. vs. Q.Wang w/abdominal tournament was a loss to U.Radwanska in qualifying pain) followed by SF run at Washington DC (l. Vekic) for 2016 Wimbledon) • Has won three titles on the WTA 125K Series – 2015 • In addition to title at 2019 Istanbul is a three-time Dalian, 2018 Zhengzhou and 2019 Anning – with singles R-Up, at 2012 Kuala Lumpur (ret. vs. Hsieh each of those events being staged in China. Since w/heat illness), 2018 Bucharest (l. Sevastova) and the tournament level was introduced in 2012, Zheng 2019 Zhengzhou (l. Ka.Pliskova) has won more matches at WTA 125K Series events • A four-time doubles runner-up, at 2012 Paris [In- than any other WTA Player. She owns a 43-15 record doors], 2012 Bad Gastein, 2013 Marrakech (w/Mlad- at WTA 125K Series events; the next most wins enovic) and 2016 Monterrey (w/M.Sanchez) belong to Luksika Kumkhum (31-16) • Won WTA 125K Series doubles title at Bol, Croatia in • Also won 11th ITF title in 2018 at $100k ITF/Su- 2016 (w/Knoll) zhou-CHN • Made Top 100 debut on September 14, 2009 (after • Registered five tour-level wins in 2017, as injury end- US Open; rose from No.137 to No.89) and enjoyed a ed her season prematurely; right knee injury forced Top 50 season in 2011, finishing at No.49 her to miss all tournaments after 2017 US Open • Owns four career wins over Top 10 opponents, • Highlights of 2016 season included SF run at Not- defeating No.8 Bartoli at 2012 Roland Garros, No.5 tingham (d. Konta in 2r, l. Riske) and first Premier Kvitova at 2012 Tokyo [PPO], No.6 Ostapenko at QF at Stanford (l. eventual champion Konta in 3s) 2018 Indian Wells and No.2 Ka.Pliskova at 2019 and Doha, defeating No.2 Kerber in 2r; l. eventual Roland Garros runner-up Ostapenko • Member of Croatian Fed Cup Team 2008-2010, • In beating Kerber, became fourth Chinese woman to 2012, 2014 defeat a Top 2-ranked player, after Li Na (six wins), • Fell 1r on WTA main draw debut as a WC at 2007 Zheng Jie (three wins) and Zhang Shuai (two wins) Miami • At Rio Olympics, reached 2r in singles (l. Kasatkina) • Made professional debut on ITF Circuit in Croatia in and 2r in doubles (w/Xu, l. Errani/Vinci) 2005 • In doubles, reached final at 2016 Shenzhen (w/Xu) and SF at 2016 Australian Open (w/Xu; l. Hlavacko- va/Hradecka). Was second SF at Australian Open – GRAND SLAM HISTORY also 2013 (w/Lepchenko) • Won first WTA Premier doubles title at 2015 Stan- • Contested 31st Grand Slam main draw at 2019 US ford (w/Xu); now owns four tour-level doubles titles, Open, reaching R16 (l. S.Williams) having also won at 2011 Guangzhou (w/Hsieh), 2015 • Advanced to first Grand Slam QF of career at 2019 Tianjin (w/Xu) and 2019 Acapulco (w/Azarenka) Roland Garros (l. eventual runner-up Vondrousova) • Owns five Top 10 wins, over No.6 Kvitova (via. ret • Reached R16 on five previous occasions across the at 2016 Shenzhen), No.2 Kerber (2016 Doha), No.5 Slams, at Wimbledon in 2017 (l. Rybarikova) and A.Radwanska (2016 Olympics), No.10 Svitolina 2019 (l. Svitolina), Australian Open in 2018 (l. Mer- (2017 Madrid) and No.10 Sabalenka (2019 San tens), Roland Garros in 2012 (l. Kerber) and 2017 Jose) (as qualifier, l. Svitolina after leading 5-2 in final set) • Reached first WTA singles QF at Hong Kong in Sep- tember 2014, and first WTA SF at Tianjin in October 2014 PETRA ZHENG MARTIC VS SAISAI

GRAND SLAM CONT. CAREER CONT.

• Was ranked No.290 during 2017 Roland Garros run • Selected by fans to participate in the 2014 WTA Ris- – the lowest-ranked player to reach R16 at a Grand ing Stars Invitational as part of the WTA Finals Slam since the unranked Henin finished R-Up at • Has enjoyed success on WTA 125K Series, high- 2010 Australian Open (l. S.Williams). Since 1983, the lighted by wins at 2015 Dalian, 2018 Zhengzhou and only other player outside the Top 200 to reach R16 in 2019 Anning; R-Up at 2013 Suzhou and 2018 Anning Paris was No.279 Martínez in 1988 • Made professional debut on ITF Circuit in 2008 • Roland Garros exploits in 2017 ended run of seven 1r losses at the majors (did not contest main draw at any of the Slams in 2016) GRAND SLAM HISTORY • Made 2r on Grand Slam debut at 2009 Roland Gar- ros (as qualifier, l. Wozniak) • Owns main draw wins at three of the four majors, with Roland Garros the only Slam where she has yet PERSONAL to secure a main draw victory • Reached 2r at Wimbledon for the first time in 2018 • Recently announced split from coach Sandra Za- • Also advanced to 2r at US Open in 2014, 2016 and niewska 2017, and Australian Open in 2016 • Mother’s name is Sandra Martic; she was a handball • In doubles, was R-Up at 2019 Roland Garros (w/ player Duan, l. Babos/Mladenovic). Also reached SF at • Favorite city is Paris and favorite food is pancakes Australian Open in 2013 (w/Lepchenko l. Barty/Del- • Speaks Croatian and English lacqua) and 2016 (w/Xu, l. Hlavackova/Hradecka)

PERSONAL

• Started playing tennis at age 8 at tennis academy where mother worked • Coached by Goran Tosic • Proud mother of her puppy, Yuan Bao

MATCH NOTES ZHUHAI - CHINA | Oct 22 - Oct 27, 2019 | $2,419,844 | CH

[4] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #14) vs. [6] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #18)

Head to Head: ELISE MERTENS leads 2-1

2018 MONTREAL HARD O R16 ELISE MERTENS 2-6 7-6(1) 6-0 133 mins 2018 EASTBOURNE GRASS O R16 ARYNA SABALENKA 7-5 2-6 7-6(4) 161 mins 2018 LUGANO CLAY O F ELISE MERTENS 7-5 6-2 85 mins

ARYNA SABALENKA ELISE MERTENS 14 WTA RANKING 18 14 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 18 05-05-1998 (21) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 17-11-1995 (23) $2,594,687 YTD PRIZE MONEY $2,567,900 $4,743,626 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $5,728,146 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 2 / 4 1 / 5 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 3 / 3 3 / 9 ZHUHAI W-L (MD) * 2-1 2-1 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 36-22 / 94-52 35-26 / 116-71 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 11-8 / 35-20 9-11 / 35-25 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 4-7 / 19-18 6-10 / 23-28 YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 29-13 / 75-33 24-16 / 68-43 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 0-2 / 6-7 5-1 / 12-3 1-1 / 4-4 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 1-2 / 3-8 2-5 / 10-10 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 3-6 / 6-15 3-5 / 19-15 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 7-13 / 13-33 * Including 2019 Zhuhai RR results

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

[4] ARYNA SABALENKA (BLR #14) [6] ELISE MERTENS (BEL #18)

RR: d. [9] MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #29) 6-3,6-4 (1h19) RR: d. [9] MARIA SAKKARI (GRE #22) 6-2,3-6,6-1 (1h44)

2018

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ZHUHAI ZHUHAI

• Making second appearance at Zhuhai; defeated • Making second appearance at Zhuhai, having fallen eventual champion Barty but lost to Garcia during in round robin stage in 2018 (d. Kontaveit, l. Goerg- round-robin exit in 2018 es) • Won all 10 service games during opening match win • Broke serve seven times to defeat No.22 Sakkari in over Sakkari in round robin stage on Tuesday first Rose Group match on Wednesday • Faces doubles partner and No.18 Mertens in second • Faces No.14 Sabalenka today; won pair’s most round robin match today. Winner will advance to SF recent meeting, at 2018 Montreal, after saving 1mp • Owns three Top 20 wins in 2019, over No.14 Wozni- in second set acki (Eastbourne), No.8 Bertens and No.1 Barty • Has won three doubles titles w/Sabalenka in 2019 (both at Wuhan) (Indian Wells, Miami and US Open) • Has made QF or better in eight of her 10 tour-level • Next week, will contest the doubles competition w/ appearances on Chinese soil; 2017 Tianjin (R-Up), Sabalenka at Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen 2018 Shenzhen (QF), 2018 Wuhan (WON), 2018 • Career highlights on hard courts include titles at Beijing (QF), 2018 Tianjin (QF), 2018 Zhuhai (RR), Hobart in 2017 and 2018, and Doha in 2019, and SF 2019 Shenzhen (WON), 2019 Zhengzhou (QF), 2019 at 2018 Australian Open Wuhan (WON) and 2019 Beijing (2r) • Has a 30-7 career record in tour-level matches in China. Defended Wuhan title, reached QF at Zheng- SEASON zhou and lost opening round match at Beijing during this year’s Asian swing • Coming off 2r exit at Luxembourg (l. eventual cham- pion Ostapenko) • Fell 2r at Wuhan (l. Kenin) and Beijing (l. Andreescu); was also R-Up in doubles at Wuhan w/Sabalenka (l. SEASON Duan/Kudermetova) • Fell 2r at Beijing (after 1r bye, l. Kasatkina) • Lost to eventual champion Osaka in SF at Osaka • Became first player to successfully defended title • Advanced to QF at US Open for the first time (l. at Wuhan, defeating Riske in final. Also finished eventual champion Andreescu in 3s); also won runner-up in doubles with Mertens (l. Duan/Kuder- maiden major doubles title at Flushing Meadows w/ metova in F) Sabalenka (d. Azarenka/Barty in F) • Made QF exit at Zhengzhou (l. eventual R-Up Martic) • Fell 2r at San Jose (after 1r bye, l. No.178 Ahn - in • Reached 2r at US Open (l. Putintseva); also won US terms of ranking, her worst loss in over two years), Open doubles title (w/Mertens) Toronto (l. S.Williams) and Cincinnati (l. Svitolina) • Opened summer hard court season with R-Up finish • Advanced to R16 at Wimbledon for the first time (l. at San Jose (l. S.Zheng), 1r exit at Toronto (l. Pavly- Strycova, having led 6-4 5-2) uchenkova) and R16 loss at Cincinnati (l. Sakkari) • Also posted R16 showing at Eastbourne (l. eventual • Posted QF showing at Eastbourne (l. Bertens) before champion Ka.Pliskova); win over Vondrousova in 2r falling 1r at Wimbledon (l. Rybarikova) was 100th at main draw level • Suffered back-to-back 1r exits at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. • Made QF at Mallorca (l. eventual champion Kenin) Aiava) and Birmingham (l. Hsieh) and fell 1r at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. Alexandrova) • Fell 2r at Roland Garros (l. Anisimova) • Reached 3r at Roland Garros (l. No.12 Sevastova) • Reached SF at Strasbourg (l. eventual champion • Exited 1r at both Madrid (l. Schmiedlova) and Rome Yastremska) (l. V.Williams 7-6 in third set) • Suffered back-to-back 1r exits at Madrid (l .Kuznetso- • Reached QF during defense of Rabat title (l. eventu- va) and Rome (l. Cornet) al champion Sakkari) • Was part of Belarus Fed Cup team that fell 3-2 to • Fell 2r in first clay court event of 2019 at Charleston, Australia in World Group semifinal, in Brisbane. Went (after 1r bye, l. Kanepi in a topsy-turvy battle having 1-1 in her singles rubbers (d. Stosur, l. Barty) and bageled each other in the first two sets) also lost the decisive doubles with Azarenka • Made 1r exit at Dubai (l. Zhu) followed by 3r runs at • Made R16 in first clay court event of the season at Indian Wells (l. Q.Wang) and Miami (l. Vondrousova) Charleston (l. Puig) • Completed ‘Sunshine Double’ in doubles (w/Sabalen- • Suffered 2r exit at Miami (after 1r bye, l. Tomljanovic) ka), lifting the back-to-back titles at Indian Wells (d. after R16 run at Indian Wells (l. Kerber) Krejcikova/Siniakova) and Miami (d. Stosur/Zhang) • Completed the ‘Sunshine Double’ by sweeping back- • Won biggest title of career at Doha (d. No.3 Halep in to-back doubles titles at Indian Wells and Miami and final). Now owns 5-1 record in finals US Open (all w/Mertens) • Also beat No.8 Bertens and No.6 Kerber in Doha, doubling career total Top 10 wins to six ARYNA ELISE SABALENKA VS MERTENS

SEASON CONT. SEASON CONT.

• Fell in R16 at Dubai (l. eventual champion Bencic) • Lost both singles rubbers during Belgium’s 3-1 home • Won both singles rubbers (d. Petkovic and Siege- defeat to France in Liege (l. Cornet and Garcia) mund) during Belarus’ Fed Cup win over Germany • Made 3r at Australian Open (l. Keys) • Made SF at St. Petersburg (l. eventual champion • Began season by falling 1r at Brisbane (l. Bertens) Bertens); rose to career-high No.9 in the rankings and reaching QF at Sydney (l. Barty) following run in Russia (February 4, 2019) • Tianjin, fell 1r at Wuhan and Beijing, and in RR at • Reached 3r at Australian Open (l. Anisimova); made Zhuhai Top 10 debut after tournament (January 28) • Career highlights on hard courts include titles at • Opened 2019 season by lifting third title of career Hobart in 2017 and 2018, and Doha in 2019, and SF at Shenzhen (d. Riske in F) followed with 1r exit at at 2018 Australian Open Sydney (l. Kvitova) CAREER MILESTONES CAREER MILESTONES • Won three titles in 2018 (Hobart, Rabat and Lugano), • Enjoyed breakthrough season in 2018, lifting two one of six players on tour with three or more titles to titles, at New Haven (d. Suárez Navarro in F) and their name last year - also Kvitova (5), Svitolina (4), Wuhan (d. Kontaveit in F), winning 46 matches and Bertens (3), Halep (3) and Wozniacki (3) finishing at No.11 in the rankings • Posted 46 main draw match wins in 2018 – only • Also in 2018, was R-Up at Lugano (l. Mertens) and Ka.Pliskova (49) and Kvitova (47) registered more. Eastbourne (l. Wozniacki), made SF at Cincinnati, By contrast, prior to last season owned only 36 wins reached five QFs and produced a career-best Grand at this level across entire career Slam run to R16 at US Open • In doubles in 2018, won four titles and reached QF at • Posted first Top 100 season finish in 2017, ending WTA Finals (w/Schuurs) year at No.78. Season highlight was reaching first • Finished 2017 season at No.35, up from No.120 in tour-level final at Tianjin (l. Sharapova) and making 2016 – first Top 50 and Top 100 year-end finish SF run at Tashkent (l. Babos) • 2017 season highlighted by first career singles title at • Made Grand Slam main draw debut 2017 Wim- Hobart (as a qualifier, d. Niculescu in F) bledon, falling in 2r (as qualifier, l. Witthoeft), and • Also in 2017, advanced to final at Istanbul (l. Svitoli- WTA main draw debut at 2017 Dubai (as qualifier, l. na) and made SF runs at Bastad (l. Wozniacki), New Ka.Bondarenko) Haven (l. Cibulkova) and Luxembourg (l. Puig) • Member of Belarus Fed Cup Team that advanced to • Registered first Top 10 win of career over No.10 competition final in 2017 – went 1-1 in singles and • Cibulkova in 1r at 2017 Beijing 0-1 in doubles as side lost to USA • Made WTA singles main draw debut at 2016 ‘s-Her- • Scored first Top 20 win of career with defeat of No.13 togenbosch – made QF (as qualifier, l. Mladenovic) Stephens during 2017 Fed Cup final in Minsk • Won first WTA title of any kind in doubles at 2016 • Rounded out season by lifting WTA 125k Series title Auckland (w/Mestach). Now has nine doubles titles – at Mumbai (d. Jakupovic) also 2017 Guangzhou (w/Schuurs), 2018 Hobart (w/ • Owns three WTA doubles titles – all coming along- Schuurs), 2018 Lugano (w/Flipkens), 2018 ‘s-Her- side Mertens during 2019 season (Indian Wells, togenbosch (w/Schuurs), 2018 Wuhan (w/Schuurs), Miami and US Open) 2019 Indian Wells-Miami double (w/Sabalenka) and • In 2016 rose nearly 400 places in the rankings, end- 2019 US Open (w/Sabalenka) ing year at No.155 • Played first tour-level event of career at 2015 Ant- • WTA qualifying debut came at 2016 Rabat werp (fell in qualifying) • Made debut on ITF Circuit in Minsk in 2012 • Has 11 singles and 14 doubles titles on ITF Circuit • Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in Belgium in 2010 ARYNA ELISE SABALENKA VS MERTENS

GRAND SLAM HISTORY GRAND SLAM HISTORY

• Contested ninth career Grand Slam main draw at • Advanced to first Grand Slam SF of career at 2018 2019 US Open Australian Open (l. eventual champion Wozniacki) • Advanced to R16 for first time at 2018 US Open (l. • Became first Belgian to reach a Slam SF since eventual champion Osaka in 3s) Flipkens at 2013 Wimbledon; also the first to do so at • Best singles showing at Australian Open was 3r run Australian Open since 2012 (Kim Clijsters, SF) in 2019 (l. Anisimova) • In 2018, also achieved best result at Roland Garros, • First Grand Slam win came during 2r showing on with run to R16 (l eventual champion Halep) Grand Slam debut at 2017 Wimbledon (as qualifier, • Deepest run at Wimbledon was to R16 in 2019 (l. d. Khromacheva, l.Witthoeft) Strycova despite leading 6-4 5-2), while at US Open • Made 1r exit on next three major appearances, at made QF in 2019 (l. Andreescu) 2018 Australian Open (l. Barty), 2018 Roland Garros • Won doubles title at 2019 US Open (w/Sabalenka, (l. Bertens) and 2018 Wimbledon (l. Buzarnescu) d. Azarenka/Barty in F). Also made SF at Roland • Also fell in qualifying at 2016 and 2017 US Opens, Garros and QF at Wimbledon in 2019 (both w/Sa- 2017 Australian Open and 2017 Roland Garros balenka) • Won career first Grand Slam title of any kind, in dou- bles at 2019 US Open (w/Mertens) – pair defeated Azarenka/Barty in final PERSONAL

• Working with former coach Robbe Ceyssens having PERSONAL parted ways with David Taylor in March • Earlier coaching history includes Belgian federation • Coached by former ATP player Dmitry Tursunov until early teens, as well as a year at the Mourato- since last summer glou Academy • Started playing aged six as an accident when father • Is an animal lover, and has four dogs and a variety of drove by local tennis courts birds as pets (pheasants, peacocks) • Voted 2018 WTA Newcomer of the Year by interna- tional media • Her favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo