The 2018 Shenzhen Open lifts the curtain on the new WTA tennis season. The long off period of November and December is over. Players have been able to get legitimate vacation time and then spend extended time training for the new calendar year of competition. It’s an exciting time in women’s tennis. The tour begins a 2018 season loaded with mysteries. People are wondering how Serena Williams will fare after childbirth, but that’s more a question for the Australian Open. This week involves warm-ups for Australia, and Serena won’t be found in Shenzhen. Who will emerge as a storyline when this event is over?
The competition in the 32-player main draw of the Shenzhen Open begins on Monday, January 2.
Event Details
Event: Shenzhen Open
Category: WTA International tier
Date: January 1 – 7, 2018
Location: Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center – Shenzhen, China
The 2018 Shenzhen Open will mark the 31st year of the tournament. It’s not a prestigious tournament, but it’s certainly a durable one. Professionals appreciate a chance to play before the end of the season.
With a prize money allotment of $750,000, this event offers a lot of bang for the buck. It is only an International tier event in terms of points and stature, but for that classification on the WTA tournament ladder, this is as lucrative a purse as you’ll find. It’s a great lure to players, giving them incentive to start their seasons in China.
Points
Champion – 280
Runner-up – 180
Semifinal – 110
Quarterfinal – 60
Round of 16 – 30 points.
Former Champions and Results (4 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2017: Katerina Siniakova def. Alison Riske, 6-3, 6-4
2016: Agnieszka Radwanska d. Alison Riske 6-3, 6-2
2015: Simona Halep d. Timea Bacsinszky 6-2, 6-2
2014: Li Na d. Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-5
2013: Li Na d. Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
Player Info:
This is a very unusual setup in Shenzhen for 2018. Two top-seven players are in this tournament, and the third seed is ranked 35.
The two elite players are top seed (and World No. 1) Simona Halep and second seed (World No. 7) Jelena Ostapenko. Halep secured her first year-end No. 1 ranking last year, being the most consistent player on the WTA Tour. However, she never won a Grand Slam tournament. Ostapenko did that at the French Open, coming out of nowhere to win a first major just after turning 20. Ostapenko became the first person since Gustavo Kuerten in 1997 (roughly when Ostapenko was born) to win her first professional title at a Grand Slam event. She won it by beating Halep in the final. That will be the expected matchup in Shenzhen.
On the season, Ostapenko finished the campaign with 43 wins, which was a new career high. She was 5-2 on grass and 16-3 on clay while posting a 21-11 record on the hard courts. As for Halep, she also thrived on clay courts the most. She was 16-2 on the red surface while going 6-2 on grass and 19-10 on the hard courts. She’s now finished with at least 43 wins in three straight seasons, which goes to show just how consistent she has been.
The third seed is Zhang Shuai, who has been a relative non-factor at significant tennis events over the years. She was just 28-23 on the season in terms of the main tour draw. She had losing records on both grass and clay, but did have a winning record on the hard courts. She won 23 of her 36 matches on the hard court.
The other notable among the top eight seeds is defending champion Katerina Siniakova. She was just 23-23 on the main tour draw last year. Most of her success came on the clay courts as she was 10-6 on the red surface. Otherwise, she was just 11-14 in all of her other matches. She’s the No. 6 seed for this event and is ranked 48th in the world. Given the big guns in front of her, don’t expect her to be a big factor at this event.
Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center
The new and modern tennis complex has 32 hard courts, more than enough to host a 32-player tournament and provide plenty of venues for practice. The stadium court holds 4,000 people, an intimate setting for a low-key event on tour.
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