Entire Top 20 headed to Beijing for WTA 1000 China Open
All of the Top 20 players in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings are headed to Beijing for the China Open, the penultimate WTA 1000 event of the 2024 season. The main-draw entry list was announced by the tournament on Thursday.
The stage is set for an incredible outdoor hard-court showdown among the Hologic WTA Tour's top players. Main-draw action takes place from September 25 through October 6.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek View Profile tops the entry list, as she will return to the Chinese capital in an attempt to defend her title. Swiatek made her Beijing debut last year, battling to a narrow quarterfinal win over former champion Caroline Garcia View Profile en route to the trophy.
The remaining members of the Top 5 join Swiatek at the apex of the entry list: two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka View Profile , reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff View Profile , 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina View Profile and 2024's breakthrough player Jasmine Paolini View Profile .
As one of four WTA1000 mandatory tournaments, the 2024 China Open entry list featuring 11 Grand Slam champions, including Iga Swiatek View Profile , Aryna Sabalenka View Profile , and Coco Gauff View Profile . Adding to the excitement,No.7 Qinwen Zheng View Profile led 4 Chinese female players in the China Open singles. pic.twitter.com/H8AUunPlHJ
— China Open (@ChinaOpen) August 29, 2024
Two-time China Open champion Caroline Wozniacki View Profile (2010 and 2018) is in the main-draw entries, as is 2012 champion Victoria Azarenka View Profile and 2017 champion Garcia. (2019 champion Naomi Osaka View Profile is currently just outside the main-draw entries as the 10th alternate.)
Chinese No.1 and World No.7 Zheng Qinwen will also be a major star attraction in the field, as she heads to home soil following her gold-medal performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
QUEEN WEN
— China Open (@ChinaOpen) August 3, 2024
QUEEN WIN pic.twitter.com/ZyThNKCT9G
Grand Slam champions on the entry list are Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina, Wozniacki, Azarenka, reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova View Profile , Jelena Ostapenko View Profile , Sofia Kenin View Profile , Sloane Stephens and Emma Raducanu View Profile .
All told, 74 of the Top 77 players in the singles rankings are entered, with No.77 Cristina Bucsa View Profile being the last direct entry at the moment. Ajla Tomljanovic View Profile and Irina-Camelia Begu View Profile are the two main-draw entrants who are in via their protected rankings.
The three players in the Top 77 who are not entered are former Wimbledon champion and World No.22 Marketa Vondrousova View Profile (continuing shoulder injury), No.39 Sorana Cirstea View Profile (continuing foot injury) and No.61 Zhu Lin (continuing foot injury).
If there are any withdrawals from the list, 78th-ranked Harriet Dart View Profile of Great Britain would be the next direct entry, followed by No.79 Bernarda Pera View Profile of the United States.
The China Open started as a premier-level event on the calendar 20 years ago in 2004. That year, WTA superstar Serena Williams captured the title.
