Women's Tennis Association Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open
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WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION MATCH NOTES WUHAN, CHINA | SEPTEMBER 22-28, 2019 | $2,828,000 WTA PREMIER 5 EVENT wtatennis.com | facebook.com/WTA | twitter.com/WTA | youtube.com/WTA Tournament Website: www.wuhanopen.org | @wuhanopentennis | facebook.com/wuhanopentennis WTA Communications: Chase Altieri ([email protected]), Adam Lincoln ([email protected]), Teyva Sammet ([email protected]), Ellie Emerson ([email protected]) DONGFENG MOTOR WUHAN OPEN - DAY 4 MATCH-UPS [4] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #6) vs. [WC] ELENA RYBAKINA (KAZ #50) First meeting Halep is looking to reach her first QF on Chinese soil since lifting the 2018 Shenzhen title... Rybakina is bidding for her second Top 10 win of her career, having defeated No.7 Garcia in St. Petersburg in 2018 [Q] SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA (RUS #69) vs. [3] ELINA SVITOLINA (UKR #3) Svitolina leads 2-1 Kuznetsova contested qualifying this week for the first time since 2013 Toronto...Svitolina owns 25 wins on hardcourts this season, the fifth most on Tour in 2019 [1] ASHLEIGH BARTY (AUS #1) vs. [15] SOFIA KENIN (USA #17) Barty leads 3-1 WTA World No.1 Barty has served 321 aces so far this season, the third most across the Tour... Kenin leads the Tour in most hardcourt wins this season with 35, ahead of Ka.Pliskova with 33 [8] QIANG WANG (CHN #16) vs. ALISON RISKE (USA #35) Riske leads 2-0 Wang has advanced to the SF or better in six of her last seven events contested in her home country... Riske is looking to level her Top 20 record this season to 6-6 with a win today DAYANA YASTREMSKA (UKR #27) vs. [2] KAROLINA PLISKOVA (CZE #2) Pliskova leads 1-0 Yastremska is aiming for her career first Top 10 victory today, with five Top 20 wins under her belt... Pliskova claimed her tour-leading 50th match win over Anisimova in 2r on Tuesday [5] PETRA KVITOVA (CZE #7) vs. [10] SLOANE STEPHENS (USA #15) Stephens leads 2-0 Two-time Wuhan champion Kvitova faces her 13th Top 20 player of the season today (7-5 record)... Meanwhile, Stephens is playing only her fifth Top 20 player of 2019 (1-3 record) MATCH NOTES WUHAN - CHINA | Sep 22 - Sep 28, 2019 | $2,828,000 | PREMIER 5 [4] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #6) vs. [WC] ELENA RYBAKINA (KAZ #50) Head to Head: First meeting SIMONA HALEP ELENA RYBAKINA 6 WTA RANKING 50 3 PORSCHE RACE TO SHENZHEN LEADERBOARD 45 27-09-1991 (27) DATE OF BIRTH (AGE) 17-06-1999 (20) $5,276,367 YTD PRIZE MONEY $278,171 $33,421,946 CAREER PRIZE MONEY $367,309 SINGLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 1 / 19 1 / 1 0 / 1 DOUBLES TITLES (YTD / CAREER) 0 / 0 WUHAN W-L (MD) * 5-5 2-0 YTD / CAREER W-L (MD) * 41-13 / 368-164 17-7 / 20-10 YTD / CAREER 3-SET W-L (MD) * 14-7 / 109-56 6-2 / 7-3 YTD / CAREER TIE-BREAK W-L (MD) * 7-5 / 46-55 3-3 / 5-4 YTD / CAREER HARD W-L (MD) * 21-9 / 212-104 6-3 / 8-5 2-4 / 35-15 YTD / CAREER Left Hander W-L (MD) * 2-1 / 2-2 1-1 / 11-28 YTD / CAREER TOP 5 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 0-1 5-3 / 38-47 YTD / CAREER TOP 10 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 1-1 8-6 / 98-73 YTD / CAREER TOP 20 W-L (MD & Q) * 0-1 / 1-2 * Updated entering 2019 Wuhan R16 ROAD TO THE ROUND OF 16 [4] SIMONA HALEP (ROU #6) [WC] ELENA RYBAKINA (KAZ #50) R32: d. BARBORA STRYCOVA (CZE #31) 6-3,6-2 (1h25) R32: d. ONS JABEUR (TUN #55) 6-1,6-7(3),6-2 (1h51) R64: BYE R64: d. LIN ZHU (CHN #108) 7-5,2-6,6-0 (1h48) WUHAN Tournament History SIMONA HALEP 2018 R2 L - DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SVK #31) 6-0 7-5 Insights Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA from MATCH NOTES WUHAN - CHINA | Sep 22 - Sep 28, 2019 | $2,828,000 | PREMIER 5 2017 R2 L - DARIA KASATKINA (RUS #31) 6-2 6-1 2016 SF L - PETRA KVITOVA (CZE #16) 6-1 6-2 2015 R16 L - JOHANNA KONTA (GBR #66) 6-3 3-6 7-5 2014 R2 L - GARBIÑE MUGURUZA (ESP #22) 2-6 6-2 6-3 Insights Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA from SIMONA ELENA HALEP VS RYBAKINA WUHAN WUHAN • Making sixth appearance at Wuhan, where her best • Making debut at Wuhan, where she is the last re- result was 2016’s SF run (d. No.9 Keys in QF, l. maining of five WC in the draw eventual champion Kvitova) • Best result by a wildcard here was Q.Wang’s SF run • After opening round bye, beat Strycova in 2r; has last year now won all six of their career meetings with the • In 1r, converted all five break points during see-saw Czech, dropping a combined total of just 25 games win over qualifier L.Zhu • Faces No.50 Rybakina in R16, bidding to reach first • Broke serve another seven times to see off LL QF in China since winning 2018 Shenzhen title Jabeur in 2r • Playing first tournament in China since retiring w/ • Faces No.6 Halep today, bidding to reach second back injury against Jabeur in Beijing last October. Premier-level QF of her career, having previously Only other result of last year’s Asian swing was 2r reached this stage at 2018 St. Petersburg (scored exit here at Wuhan (after 1r bye, l. CIbulkova) sole career Top 10 win, over No.7 Garcia en route) • Has reached three career finals on Chinese soil, • Currently ranked No.50; by contrast, this time last winning Shenzhen in 2015 and 2018, and finishing year was ranked No.182 R-Up at Beijing in 2017 SEASON SEASON • Coming off 1r exit at Guangzhou (ret. vs. Siniakova • Withdrew from Zhengzhou w/left ankle injury w/left thigh injury) • Fell 2r at US Open (l. Townsend after holding 1mp) • Reached second career final at Nanchang (l. Peter- • Enjoyed good results in lead-up to US Open, and son); now 1-1 in WTA finals is coming off QF run at Toronto (ret. vs. Bouzova • Fell 1r at US Open (as qualifier, l. Muchova) w/Achilles pain) and reaching R16 at Cincinnati (l. • Contested qualifying at Cincinnati eventual champion Keys) • Returned to clay after Wimbledon to win maiden • Lifted second major title at Wimbledon (d. S.Williams WTA title at Bucharest (d. Tig in F). Also made 2r in F) to become first Romanian to triumph at SW19 at Jurmala (l. Pera) and WTA 125K Series event at • In only pre-Wimbledon grass court event, reached Bastad QF at Eastbourne (l. eventual R-Up Kerber) • During grass court season, advanced to SF at ‘s-Her- • As the defending champion, posted QF run at Roland togenbosch (as qualifier, l. Bertens) and fell in final Garros (l. Anisimova) round of qualifying at Wimbledon • Suffered opening match loss at Rome (after 1r bye, l. • On clay, reached QF at Istanbul (as qualifier, l. Stry- Vondrousova) cova) and fell 1r at Roland Garros (l. Siniakova) and • Had previously reached at least the QF stage in her $60K ITF/Torun-POL last 10 clay court tournaments – 2019 Madrid (F), • Productive February featured back-to-back titles 2018 Roland Garros (Won), 2018 Rome (F), 2018 on ITF Circuit at $25K Moscow-RUS and $25K Madrid (QF), 2018 Stuttgart (QF), 2017 Roland Gar- Kazan-RUS. Also fell in qualifying at WTA event at ros (F), 2017 Rome (F), 2017 Madrid (Won), 2017 Budapest Stuttgart (SF) and 2016 Bucharest (Won) • Returned to ITF Circuit after Melbourne to win title at • Prior to Rome, posted R-Up showing at Madrid (l. $60K ITF/Launceston-AUS Bertens) • Began the season by finishing R-Up at $25K ITF/ • Beat Kuzmova without dropping a game in R16 at Playford-AUS before falling in qualifying at Australian Madrid – was the third 6-0 6-0 win on the WTA tour Open this season (also Sharapova d. Dart at Australian Open and Pavlyuchenkova d. Jorovic at Monterrey) • Defeated Siniakova and Ka.Pliskova to help Roma- nia to a 3-2 victory over Czech Republic in the Fed Cup first round and reach the SF for the first time. Was the first time Czech Republic had been defeated at home in 10 years • Lost to S.Williams in R16 at Australian Open • Fell to Barty in 2r at Sydney (after 1r bye) SIMONA ELENA HALEP VS RYBAKINA CAREER MILESTONES CAREER MILESTONES • Ended 2018 season as World No.1 for the second • Ended 2018 season at No.191 – after posting a 32- time in her career, with season highlighted by maiden 22 win-loss record Grand Slam title at Roland Garros (d. Stephens in F) • Highlights of 2018 included reaching maiden WTA • Also won titles last year at Shenzhen (d. Siniakova QF at St. Petersburg (l. Goerges) and title at $15K in F) and Montréal (d. Stephens in F) and was R-Up ITF/Kazan-RUS at Australian Open (l. Wozniacki), Rome (l. Svitolina) • Sole Top 10 win came over No.7 Garcia at 2019 St. and Cincinnati (l. Bertens). Is 18-16 in career finals Petersburg • Won first career WTA doubles title at 2018 Shenzhen • Ended 2017 ranked No.425, improving 191 spots (w/Begu). Now 1-1 in career doubles finals from 2016 (finished at No.616) • Finished 2017 as the year-end World No.1, having • Made WTA qualifying and main draw debut at 2017 ascended to the No.1 spot for first time in career on Moscow (as qualifier, l.