The Australian Open is in the rear view mirror as the ladies now look to either the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy event in Russia or the Taiwan Open, which will be happening simultaneously next week. The ladies of the WTA have had a full week off after the 2016 Australian Open and many of them have had even more time as there were plenty of upsets early on during the first grand slam of the year. A week off might be good for some of those players that fell way short of expectations from a mental perspective but it’s also hard to say just how much rust will come into play.
The 2016 Taiwan Open is the first event of its kind, bringing tennis to a new part of the world. In a venture originally announced last June, the WTA is expanding its footprint and reach in Asia, making this an exciting time for the tour.
The competition in the 32-player main draw will begin on Monday, February 8. There is $500,000 on the line in prize money and in terms of points, the winner of this event will collect a total of 280 points while the runner-up will get 180.
Event Details
Event: Taiwan Open
Category: WTA International Level
Date: February 8 – February 14, 2016
Location: Yang-Ming Tennis Centre – Kaohsiung, Taiwan
With a prize money allotment of $426,750, this tournament won’t offer as much as the St. Petersburg tour stop in Russia the same week. That’s a Premier level event, a little higher up the food chain. However, Taiwan is an exotic and attractive locale, a new place for players to visit on a tour whose familiar sights might get a little stale after a while.
The points structure under the WTA system is that for the women, the championship at an International level tour event means 280 points. A runner-up finish is worth 180. A semifinal result is 110 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 60 points. Round-of-16 results will give 30 points.
Player Info:
While this is a lower-tier event compared to the St. Petersburg tournament, the first-year Taiwan Open has brought a very big name in women’s tennis to the field. Venus Williams will headline this event and become the No. 1 seed. That’s a real coup for any first-time event which exists at a lower level in terms of points. Someone has to be able to anchor the collection of noticeable players, and Venus – a seven-time major champion – will fit the bill perfectly in that regard.
A lot of other Asian players will be part of this tournament, as you could well expect. Zarina Diyas and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, Misaki Doi of Japan, Saisai Zheng of China, Kurumi Nara of Japan, and Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipei are all in the field. Other notables include Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, and Ursula Radwanska of Poland.
Yang-Ming Tennis Centre
The Taiwan Open will take place at an event that’s just beginning. Here is a small excerpt from the WTA’s announcement of the creation of the event on June 13 of last year:
“’We are very excited to welcome Kaohsiung as host of the first ever WTA International tournament in Taiwan,’ said Stacey Allaster, WTA Chairman and CEO. ‘The WTA will hold a record nine Premier and International tournaments across the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan in 2016, demonstrating our strong commitment to growth in the Asia-Pacific region.’
“The new WTA International event in Kaohsiung will feature a 32-player draw and offer $500,000 prize money. It will be staged at the Yang-Ming Tennis Centre, which boasts a 5,000-seat center court, a 650-seat additional stadium, as well as 10 additional courts on site.
“Taiwan’s first taste of WTA tennis came back in 2012, with Taipei successfully hosting a WTA 125K Series event for the last three years. The WTA 125K Series encourages emerging markets to showcase professional women’s tennis, while offering up-and-coming players valuable prize money and ranking points.”
Top Seeds At The 2016 Taiwan Open
1. Venus Williams
2. Misaki Doi
3. Yulia Putintseva
4. Zhang Shuai
5. Zarina Diyas
6. Zheng Saisai
7. Hsieh Su-wei
8. Kurumi Nara
Hsu Ching-wen, Lee Ya-hsuan and Zhang Shuai have received entries as wildcards.
