PREVIEW | WTA China Open Last 16 concludes including GAUFF v KUDERMETOVA and SABALENKA v PAOLINI

Thursday, 05 October 2023 at 10:06

With the first lot of Last 16 ties finalised, the 2023 China Open will see all of the Quarter-Finals set on Thursday with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in particular in action.

Many of the ties too include the top seeds against players firmly in form as of late and our preview looks ahead to the four remaining ties before the final weekend begins.

Tokyo champion Kudermetova tussles with Gauff

It has been plain sailing so far on return for Coco Gauff after winning the US Open. But her toughest test will be incoming next up as an in-form player duels with the American.

She could yet take the scalp of both of the top American doubles pairing with Jessica Pegula in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open. This followed by Gauff next up.

It is 1-1 in Head to Head and the one that counts is in Doha as Kudermetova won on the hard courts in similar conditions. Albeit Coco Gauff has become a different player since then and under the tutelage of a certain Brad GIlbert has flourished, but will old habits die hard or will Gauff show why she is the player to beat?

In-form Garcia and Sakkari also take centre stage

Two players who have ignited again after poor form are Caroline Garcia and Maria Sakkari. The latter in particular finally breaking her title duck and reaching the semi-finals in Tokyo.

Losing only to Jessica Pegula in a superb Head to Head tussle, Sakkari has been one of the best players in the world as a result. She is still hunting down a spot in the WTA Finals and against Xinyu Wang will hope to dent the Chinese charge.

Garcia on the other hand has a resurgent Anhelina Kalinina who since Rome hasn't played to her capabilities. But is showing good form this week.

Superb Sabalenka navigates kind section

Aryna Sabalenka like Coco Gauff has not had any rust since returning to action after the US Open and the Belarusian had a fairly kind section to the draw.

With Beatriz Haddad Maia in particular falling by the wayside in the opening stages, it has been fairly simple for Sabalenka to move into the latter stages.

She now has Jasmine Paolini. But as the old adage goes, you can only beat what's in front of you and Sabalenka could reach the latter stages by doing just that.

World No.1 doing World No.1 things in Beijing.

2023 China Open Schedule

Diamond - Starts at 12:30pm local time

Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) v Caroline Garcia [9] (FRA)

Veronika Kudermetova [16] v Coco Gauff [3] (USA)

Maria Sakkari [6] (GRE) v Xinyu Wang (CHN)

Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Jasmine Paolini (ITA)

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

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