Women tennis pros take racquets to Hengqin courts

World #10 Kristina Mladenovic heads the lineup at the year-ending 2017 Hengqin Women's Tennis Association Elite Trophy Zhuhai. The tournament at the Hengqin International Tennis Center opened on Oct 31 with tennis aces Coco Vandeweghe, Sloane Stephens, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also competing.

The draw ceremony on Oct 30 placed French tennis ace Mladenovic, top seed in women's singles, at the head of the Azalea Group which includes German Julia Goerges and Wimbledon semifinalist Magdalena Rybarikova. In her career meetings with the two veterans, Mladenovic has only taken one victory out of four, which makes her run to the semifinals full of uncertainty.

Placed in the Bougainvillea Group, Chinese wildcard holder Peng Shuai will face off against #2 seed Vandeweghe and Russian doubles star Elena Vesnina in the round-robin phase. In addition to the first head-to-head with Vandeweghe, Peng is expected to have a see-saw confrontation with Vesnina. From 2006 to 2015, they have played nine times, with Peng holding a 5-4 edge. 

Draw ceremony of the2017 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai

 Another highlight this year lies in the reigning US open winner Stephens, who will make her Zhuhai debut, joining Latvian Anastasija Sevastova and Czech Barbora Strycova in the Camellia Group. In their career meetings, Stephens has not only beaten Sevastova in a final-set tiebreak at this year's US Open quarterfinals, but has a 2-1 head-to-head lead over Strycova.

The Rose Group is headed by the fourth-seeded Russian Pavlyuchenkova, who will play against former World #1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber, as well as Australian rising star Ashleigh Barty, who has moved up 250 places in the rankings this year.

As for the doubles, Liang Chen, former doubles champion at the 2015 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, will partner with Yang Zhaoxuan in the Lotus Goup to play against compatriots Duan Ying and Han Yinwen, plus top-seeded Raluca Olaru and Olga Savchuk.

The Orchid Group will see Zhang Shuai and Lu Jingjing, semifinalists of China Open in 2008, compete with #2 seed Alicja Rosolska and Anna Smith, as well as Tang Qianhui and Jiang Xinyu.

The event kicked off with Peng versus Vandeweghe battling on Halloween afternoon.

Sloane Stephens, Peng Shuai, Zhuang Shuai, and Lu Jingjing [Photos by Zhu Xi / Zhuhai Daily]