Beijing 2018: Thursday's Order of Play and Match Points

NATIONAL TENNIS STADIUM
Starting at 12:30pm

Julia GOERGES (GER) [10] v Naomi OSAKA (JPN) [8]

Angelique KERBER (GER) [3] v ZHANG Shuai (CHN)

After 1 ATP match and not before 7:30pm
Karolina PLISKOVA (CZE) [7] v [WC] WANG Qiang (CHN)

LOTUS COURT

Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / XU Yifan (CHN) [3] v Alicja ROSOLSKA (POL) / Abigail SPEARS (USA)

After 1 ATP match and not before 4:30pm
Anett KONTAVEIT (EST) v Caroline WOZNIACKI (DEN) [2]

After 1 ATP match and not before 7:30pm
Aryna SABALENKA (BLR) v Caroline GARCIA (FRA) [4]

MOON COURT

Timea BABOS (HUN) / Kristina MLADENOVIC (FRA) [1] v Lucie HRADECKA (CZE) / Ekaterina MAKAROVA (RUS) [7]

[Q] Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE) v Kiki BERTENS (NED) [11]

MATCH POINTS

Julia Goerges and Naomi Osaka have played twice before. The Japanese won their only previous hard-court meeting in Cincinnati back in 2016, but the German won their last match up, taking the plaudits in Charleston earlier this year.

It has been six years since Angelique Kerber last faced Zhang Shuai. In their only previous match, the WTA World No.3 ran out a 6-3, 6-4 winner on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

Kerber has been to the quarterfinals of the China Open three times previously but never beyond. Her most recent trip to the last eight was in 2015.

Karolina Pliskova has experience of defeating Qiang Wang on Chinese soil, having beaten her Thursday opponent, 6-2, 6-1, little over a year ago in Wuhan.

Pliskova has lost on both her previous trips to the third round in Beijing but has reached at least the quarterfinals of each of the other Premier Mandatory tournaments – Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid – in 2018.

WTA World No.2 Caroline Wozniacki has a losing record against Anett Kontaveit, who she has played three times previous. Indeed, the Estonian was a convincing 6-3, 6-1 winner in Rome where they faced off earlier this year. However, this will be their first meeting on hard courts.

Kontaveit was the runner-up in Wuhan last week, having lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Sabalenka is regarded as one of the form players on the WTA Tour, having enjoyed a run of 18 victories in 21 matches. Among those successes was a win over Caroline Garcia over three sets in Cincinnati, a victory she is doubtless hoping to replicate in Beijing.

Sabalenka has beaten Top 10 players on six occasions this year, with victory over Wozniacki in Montreal the biggest scalp she has taken to date. 

Qualifier Katerina Siniakova and Kiki Bertens have never previously met.

The last qualifier to reach the quarterfinals in Beijing was Bethanie Mattek-Sands in 2015.