Aryna Sabalenka has been handed a tough draw at the Wuhan Open as she could face the in-form Zheng Qinwen, giant-killer Elise Mertens and Iga Swiatek before the semi-final.
With world No 1 Elena Rybakina missing the WTA 1000 event due to a foot injury, world No 2 Sabalenka is the top seed with Jessica Pegula headlining the bottom half of the draw.
The top eight seeds have a bye into the second round and Sabalenka will start her campaign against either Zheng or Ann Li before a possible meeting with Mertens in the third round.
Having slipped out of the top 100 a few months ago, Zheng is back in the top 40 after reaching the quarter-final of the US Open and the semi-final of the China Open.
She is currently No 35 in the Live WTA Rankings, but will return to the top 30 if she beats Mertens in the last four in Beijing.
WTA News
Mertens, meanwhile, faces Daria Snigur and she will be high on confidence after defeating Coco Gauff in the fourth round and Swiatek in the quarter-final in China.
Swiatek has a kinder start to the Wuhan event as she will face a yet-to-be-determined qualifier in the second round while she could meet ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the third round and Sabalenka in the quarter-final.
Section 2
Third seed Mirra Andreeva leads the second bracket and she will face either Dayana Yastremska or Cristina Bucsa in the second round while she is projected to meet 16th seed Maja Chwalinska, whom she beat in the French Open final in June, in the third round and eighth seed Marta Kostyuk, who starts against Maria Sakkari or Donna Vekic, in the quarter-final.
Andreeva is in good form as she has reached the final of the China Open, which guarantees her a jump to a new career-high of No 3 in the WTA Rankings.
If the seedings hold, then Andreeva will face Sabalenka in the semi-final.
Section 3
Reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova is the highest-ranked player in the third bracket and the fourth seed will face either Anhelina Kalinina or Sonay Kartel in round two before a possible clash with 15th seed Jasmine Paolini.
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina is also in Section 3 and the Ukrainian will kick off her campaign against either Katerina Siniakova or Liudmilla Samsonova with 12th seed Sorana Cirstea a projected third-round opponent.
Section 4
Last year’s Wuhan Open runner-up, Pegula – who missed the China Open – will face Jelena Ostapenko or a qualifier in the second round while she could meet 13th seed Alex Eala in the third round.
Eala, who was also absent from the Beijing event after representing the Philippines at the Asian Games, faces a qualifier in the first round and if she wins that one, she will face either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Leylah Fernandez before a possible encounter against Pegula.
Sixth seed Karolina Muchova starts against Yuliia Starodubtseva or a qualifier while she could meet 11th seed Diana Shnaider in the third round.
Projected Quarter-Finals
Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Iga Swiatek (7)
Mirra Andreeva (3) v Marta Kostyuk (8)
Elina Svitolina (5) v Linda Noskova (4)
Karolina Muchova (4) v Jessica Pegula (2)
