DRAW WTA China Open 2024: Naomi Osaka gears up to face Italy's Lucia Bronzetti in first round

Former world number Japan’s Naomi Osaka will face Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in the opening round of the China Open in Beijing. The WTA 1000 event will be organized from September 25 to October 06 where some of the top players will participate to showcase their talent and secure the ultimate prize.

Japan’s Osaka, who lifted the title in 2019 when she defeated former world number one Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in the final with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, will face Bronzetti in the opening round of the mega-event. It will be the only second time when these two players will face off in professional tennis. In the previous encounter, which was in the first round of the French Open earlier this year, it was Osaka who came out on top with a score of 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.

Former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, who registered a rather surprising win against Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the recently concluded US Open, will face Romania’s Ana Bogdan in her tournament opener. Another American player, Caroline Dolehide, will face France’s Clara Burel, whereas Taylor Townsend will face Italy’s Martina Trevisan.

Some notable players have been handed a pass from the first round which will see them directly qualify for the second round including the likes of world number two Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka, world number three and US Open 2024 runner-up Jessica Pegula, 2023 US Open winner America’s Coco Gauff, America’s Madison Keys, Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, two time Grand Slam runner-up in 2024 Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, world number seven China’s Qinwen Zheng, 2021 US Open runner-up and world number 28 Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, Britain’s Katie Boulter, world number eight America’s Emma Navarro and Spain’s Paula Badosa.

This year, there will be a new champion in place as the defending champion and current world number one, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, announced to withdrawal from the competition, citing personal reasons. "Due to personal matters, I’m forced to withdraw from the China Open in Beijing,” she said in a statement released recently. “I’m very sorry as I had an amazing time playing and winning this tournament last year and was really looking forward to being back there. I know that the fans will experience great tennis there and I’m sorry I won’t be a part of it this time."