At the WTA Premier 5 tournament in Wuhan, the favourites did not have it easy this year. Only one seeded player still knights for the tournament victory.
Ashleigh Barty is of course no reproach – the Australian only joins where she left off in Wuhan in 2017. Last year, Barty made it to the final of the ATP Premier 5 event where she lost to Caroline Garcia. Now Barty is already in the semi-finals again thanks to the hard-fought 6:2, 5:7 and 6:4 against Ansatsia Pavlyuchenkova.
But the 22-year-old from Ipswich will be the only seeded player there. Just like in the quarter finals, by the way. Barty had finished the seeded list in Wuhan as number 16, and with his victory against Angelique Kerber (ranked third), he himself contributed to the death of the favourites.
But the numbers one (a damaged Simona Halep in her defeat to Dominika Cibulkova) and two (Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16 against Monica Puig) did not see the light either. Defending champion Garcia lost to Katerina Siniakova as well as Garbine Muguruza. Even if the Spaniard is rarely one of the closest contenders for a tournament victory this season.
Petra Kvitova, already a two-time winner in Wuhan, also failed at an early hurdle, Pavlyuchenkova. Whether Ashleigh Barty can celebrate her greatest career success in China will therefore be determined by players who are outside the top 16 in the world rankings. Aryna Sabalenka could enjoy the best views.
Here the single tableau in Wuhan