MATCH POINTS
No.1 seed Elina Svitolina, seeking to clinch her spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global this week, is making her second appearance in Hong Kong. Last year, the Ukrainian made the second round before withdrawing injured. Svitolina is currently on a three-match losing streak; the last time she lost four in a row was in 2014, when a third-round defeat by Belinda Bencic in Charleston was followed by first-round exits in Marrakech (to Patricia Mayr-Achleitner), Madrid (to Jelena Jankovic) and Rome (to Elena Vesnina).
Daria Gavrilova is the only player in this year's field to have previously reached the Hong Kong final. The Australian, last year's runner-up to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, is 1-1 against Zarina Diyas, with both of their matches taking place in 2016. The Kazakh was a 7-5, 6-3 winner in the second round of Miami, but Gavrilova triumphed 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the first round of Charleston.
Wildcard Eudice Chong, making her WTA main draw debut, is an alumna of Wesleyan University who became the first four-time NCAA Division III champion in history this year. The 22-year-old, now focusing on her professional career, has compiled a 21-9 record on the ITF Pro Circuit this year, including her second ITF $15,000 title in Hong Kong in July.
Qualifier Nao Hibino has yet to drop a set to former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in two previous meetings - the first of which was also a first-round tie in Hong Kong. The Japanese No.2 won that match 6-3, 6-4, and backed it up in Taipei City this February 7-6(6), 6-2.
No.6 seed Wang Qiang takes on an old ITF Pro Circuit rival in local wildcard Zhang Ling. The pair played seven times between 2010 and 2016, with Wang leading the series 4-3, including their most recent meeting in the first round here two years ago, 6-2, 6-2.
Ana Bogdan will take on Caroline Dolehide for the second time in her career today. The Romanian won their only previous match 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the first qualifying round of Luxembourg last year.
ORDER OF PLAY (all courts start 3pm)
CENTRE COURT
Christina MCHALE (USA) vs [WC] Eudice CHONG (HKG)
[WC] ZHANG Ling (HKG) vs WANG Qiang (CHN) [6]
Not before 7.30pm
Garbiñe MUGURUZA (ESP) [4] vs Sara SORRIBES TORMO (ESP)
Elina SVITOLINA (UKR) [1] vs [WC] Priscilla HON (AUS)
COURT 1
Daria GAVRILOVA (AUS) [7] vs Zarina DIYAS (KAZ)
Samantha STOSUR (AUS) vs [Q] Nao HIBINO (JPN)
[Q] Sabina SHARIPOVA (UZB) vs ZHANG Shuai (CHN)
Jennifer BRADY (USA) / Monica NICULESCU (ROU) vs Alicja ROSOLSKA (POL) / Abigail SPEARS (USA) [2]
COURT 2
Monica NICULESCU (ROU) vs [Q] Ons JABEUR (TUN)
[Q] Bibiane SCHOOFS (NED) vs [Q] Lesley KERKHOVE (NED)
[LL] Caroline DOLEHIDE (USA) vs Ana BOGDAN (ROU)
Shuko AOYAMA (JPN) / Lidziya MAROZAVA (BLR) [4] vs Aleksandra KRUNIC (SRB) / Arina RODIONOVA (AUS)
