Already on Saturday the Premier Mandatory Event will start for the ladies in Beijing. Angelique Kerber wants to regain her self-confidence during her dress rehearsal for the WTA final in Singapore (starting October 21).
There are no privileges for the best in the Chinese capital. At least not in every respect – and not at first glance. Freelose? No chance, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and defending champion Caroline Garcia, the quartet at the top of the WTA rankings, will not get at all at the 8.285 million dollar hard court event in Beijing. You have to get in early – means: Already in the first round.
Wimbledon champion Kerber will play Kristina Mladenovic in her last tournament before the free skating in Singapore. In the duel with the French woman the Kielerin leads with 3:1 victories. The Kielerin won all three games on Hardcourt against Dominic Thiem’s girlfriend. The only defeat came to the three-time Major winner in the round of sixteen at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart last year – but on clay.
The third seeded Kerber, who failed this week in the Wuhan Round of 16 against Ashleigh Barty (Australia), could theoretically face US Open winner Naomi Osaka (No. 8) in the quarter-finals.
Julia Görges could meet the young Japanese player of the hour in the round before. But for the German number two, the first round match against the British Johanna Konta is already waiting on Saturday in the Night Session at the National Tennis Stadium.
With a run in Beijing and good results at the following tournaments in Linz and St. Petersburg, Wimbledon semi-finalist Görges is hoping to intervene again in the race for a place in the WTA final in Singapore. Their gap to the decisive eighth place in the “Porsche Race to Singapore”, the annual classification, is currently 945 points.
Also on Saturday Andrea Petkovic will play her last qualifying round against the Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo. From the German point of view, Laura Siegemund, who has to deal with the Russian Daria Kasatkina, who is seeded at position 13, is also directly in the main peloton. No question, a difficult lot for the Swabian, who fights bravely for her old form after her cruciate ligament rupture in 2017.
Kerber has reached the quarter-finals of the Premier Mandatory Tournament three times – most recently in 2015: “It’s always great to come back to China – especially Beijing. I have a lot of fans here and it’s always nice to see them again,” said the 30-year-old.
The Tableau of Beijing