2020 Hua Hin
In pictures: The story of Hua Hin 2020
From career-best wins for Nao Hibino and Wang Xiyu to 19-year-old Leonie Kung's stunning breakthrough final run and the surging Magda Linette's second career title, all the best pictures from the 2020 GSB Thailand Open presented by E@.
01
/50
Former World No.50 Akgul Amanmuradova won her first WTA-level match since 2015 over Junri Namigata in qualifying.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
02
/50
Top qualifying seed Xun Fang-Ying also won her first match over compatriot Zhang Ying.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
03
/50
However, 2018 Wimbledon junior finalist Leonie Kung upset Xun to qualify for her second career WTA main draw.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
04
/50
Punnin Kovapitukted was one of two Thai 17-year-olds making their WTA qualifying debut, where she lost to fourth seed Ulrikke Eikeri.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
05
/50
Meanwhile, former junior World No.14 Mananchaya Sawangkaew took the first set before falling to second seed Chihiro Muramatsu.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
06
/50
Eikeri went on to qualify for the first time in her career, becoming the first Norwegian since Amy Jonsson in 1991 to compete in a WTA main draw.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
07
/50
Storm Sanders, playing the sixth event of her comeback to the sport, saved four match points before defeating Moyuka Uchijima in round one of qualifying.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
08
/50
Sanders' Australian compatriot Ellen Perez also came through qualifying successfully with straight-set wins over Ng Kwan-Yau and Riya Bhatia.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
09
/50
Lucrezia Stefanini upset 2018 Roland Garros doubles finalist Eri Hozumi to win her first career WTA qualifying match.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
10
/50
Chihiro Muramatsu battled back from 5-7, 1-4 down to defeat Stefanini in the final qualifying round 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to make her WTA main draw debut.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
11
/50
Elina Svitolina travelled 27 floors up to the Vana Nava Sky Bar for a tennis match in the sky against former deputy prime minister of Thailand Suwat Liptapanlop.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
13
/50
Fourth seed Zheng Saisai needed to overturn a 2-5 deficit in the first set before pulling through against WTA main draw debutante Natalija Kostic 7-6(6), 6-0 in the first round.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
14
/50
Qualifier Ellen Perez held three set points to take a set lead over You Xiaodi in the first round...
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
15
/50
...but You staved them off to overcome Perez 7-6(4), 6-2 and seal her first WTA main draw win.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
16
/50
Eighth seed Nao Hibino squeezed past Arina Rodionova 7-6(5), 7-5 in a first-round nailbiter.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
17
/50
Storm Sanders picked up her first WTA main draw win since Hobart 2014 in straight sets over Ulrikke Eikeri.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
18
/50
Third seed Wang Qiang kicked off her campaign by dropping just two games to Chinese compatriot Han Xinyun.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
19
/50
Chihiro Muramatsu came within two games of her first WTA main draw win in a first-round epic against Barbara Haas...
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
20
/50
However, Haas battled back to defeat Muramatsu 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 45 minutes.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
21
/50
Wang Xinyu faced a first-round clash against Liang En-Shuo - with whom she had won the 2018 Australian Open girls' doubles trophy.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
22
/50
Liang En-Shuo, who was also the 2018 Australian Open girls' singles champion, came through the clash of friends, dropping just three games to Wang Xinyu.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
23
/50
A topsy-turvy scoreline ending in a ferociously fought climax ended with Patricia Maria Tig upsetting sixth seed Wang Yafan 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(5).
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
24
/50
Second seed Petra Martic faced a tough opener against 2018 US Open girls' champion Wang Xiyu.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
25
/50
Former junior World No.1 Wang Xiyu delivered a stunning performance to upset Martic 6-3, 6-4 to score her first career Top 20 win.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
26
/50
In the second round, seventh seed Zhu Lin found herself in trouble against 19-year-old qualifier Leonie Kung.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
27
/50
Kung dismissed Zhu 6-3, 6-1 to reach her first WTA quarterfinal, having lost only 15 games in four matches in qualifying and the main draw.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
28
/50
Shenzhen quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko took on Magda Linette in a bid to keep her comeback from a second maternity leave going.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
29
/50
Fifth seed Linette was too strong for Bondarenko, winning their first round 6-2, 6-2 to defeat the Ukrainian for the third time in as many matches.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
30
/50
Top seed Elina Svitolina got her campaign under way with a 6-2, 6-4 first-round win over Bibiane Schoofs.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
31
/50
Hiroshima champion Nao Hibino dismissed lucky loser Peangtarn Plipuech in 53 minutes, dropping just one game, to reach the quarterfinals.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
32
/50
San Jose champion Zheng Saisai ended qualifier Liang En-Shuo's run 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
33
/50
Wang Qiang held firm to move into her second quarterfinal of the season 6-3, 6-4 over Katarzyna Kawa.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
34
/50
Wang Xiyu backed up her upset of Petra Martic by defeating Barbara Haas in straight sets to reach her first WTA quarterfinal.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
35
/50
Patricia Maria Tig defeated You Xiaodi for the second time in as many weeks to reach her third WTA quarterfinal since returning from maternity leave last April.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
36
/50
Bronx champion Magda Linette moved past Peng Shuai into her fifth quarterfinal in the last six months.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
37
/50
Top seed Elina Svitolina found her groove, dropping just three games to Storm Sanders to make her first quarterfinal of the season.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
38
/50
In the quarterfinals, Patricia Maria Tig upset fourth seed Zheng Saisai 6-4, 6-2 to reach her first WTA semifinal of the year.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
39
/50
Magda Linette came from a set down to end teenager Wang Xiyu's run 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and reach her second straight Hua Hin semifinal.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
40
/50
Nao Hibino had won just three games from Elina Svitolina the last time they had played, but stunned the top seed 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals to post the first Top 10 win of her career.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
41
/50
The upsets weren't done yet on quarterfinal day: in Leonie Kung's first ever meeting with a Top 30 player, the teenager stunned Wang Qiang 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
42
/50
In the semifinals, with her return to the Top 100 guaranteed, Patricia Maria Tig was bidding to make the second final following her comeback from maternity leave.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
43
/50
However, Magda Linette was too strong, overcoming Tig 7-5, 6-4 to reach her third final in the past seven months.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
44
/50
Nao Hibino came into the last four buoyed by her biggest career win to date - and a 5-0 record in WTA Tour semifinals.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
45
/50
Leonie Kung's week of shocks wasn't over yet as the qualifier, who had only competed in one previous WTA main draw - as a wildcard at Gstaad 2018 - battled past Hibino in three sets to reach her maiden final.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
46
/50
Arina Rodionova and Storm Sanders took their first doubles title together over Barbara Haas and Ellen Perez; for Rodionova, it was a first WTA title after six previous final defeats, while Sanders lifted her second WTA trophy.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
48
/50
World No.283 Leonie Kung battled hard, but her inexperience in her seventh match of the week was evident; the Swiss's breakthrough will still see her rocket to a career high of World No.156.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
49
/50
Linette pulled away from Kung for a 6-3, 6-2 win to seal her second career title following her triumph as a qualifier in The Bronx last August.
Photo by GSB Thailand Open
Latest News
-
-
Angelique Kerber planning on return to tennis next year
Kerber's future -
The rise of Alexandra Eala making headlines in the Philippines and…
Future stars -
Emma Raducanu receives MBE honor for services to tennis
Player News -
Why we should expect a big rise from teenager Sara Bejlek
Future stars -
Gauff on the gridiron: Which tennis players make Coco's NFL roster?
Social Buzz
