This year's Tianjin Open will feature four top 20 stars, three Rio 2016 Olympic medalists, two previous Tianjin Open champions and two Chinese heroes after tournament organizers confirmed that two-time Grand Slam Champion and current World No.10 Svetlana Kuznetsova, World No.15 and Doubles Silver Medalist Timea Bacsinszky, 2016 Singles Gold Medalist Monica Puig and Wimbledon semi-finalist and Doubles Gold Medalist Elena Vesnina (World #20) will join China's Zhang Shuai and Peng Shuai for the third edition of the Tianjin Open during a lavish launch ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Tianjin East earlier today.
The sextet also join the previously announced World No. 4 and 2015 Tianjin Open Champion Agnieszka Radwanska and 2014 Champion Alison Riske in a stellar tournament field.
Kuznetsova is having a stellar 2016 season claiming her 16th career title in Sydney, a finals appearance in Miami, semi-finals in Prague and reaching the quarterfinals in Rome, Montreal and Cincinnati. Those performances have pushed her back into tenth on the WTA rankings and the Russian is looking forward to playing in Tianjin for the first time.
"I have had a lot of success playing in China and I really enjoy playing there, so I am very excited to be going to Tianjin and playing the Tianjin Open for the first time. It is always a pleasure for me to able to go to a new tournament because you get to experience a new city and to promote the WTA and tennis to a new group of fans", enthused the 31-year-old.
Bacsinszky, who almost quit tennis a few years ago to concentrate on hotel management studies, returned to the top 10 at the end of 2015 and has had a consistent WTA season this year reaching the quarterfinals of Rome and Roland Garros, semifinals of Miami and Gstaad, the final of Rabat and won the Doubles Silver Medal with partner Martina Hingis at the 2016 Rio Olympics earlier this month.
The Tianjin Open will also have a touch of gold about it with Rio 2016 Gold Medalists Monica Puig (Singles) and Elena Vesnina (Doubles) making their first tournament appearance. Twenty-three year old Puig set the tennis world alight when she defeated four WTA top 20 players including Kerber, Muguruza, and Kvitova on her way to claiming the gold medal, and in so-doing became the first athlete, male or female, to win a Gold Medal representing her country of Puerto Rico.
"I'm in shock, I just don't even really know what to say. I'm so excited," exclaimed Puig after her gold medal victory.
Puig, who is currently ranked 35 but sits just outside the Top 20 of the Road to Singapore rankings, comes into Tianjin with a chance of qualifying for either of the two WTA season-ending event, the WTA Finals in Singapore or the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
Hometown favorite and China's Golden Flower Peng Shuai will be hoping that she can replicate the success of her 2014 semi-final appearance as she returns to Tianjin after missing the 2015 event through injury and joins compatriot Zhang Shuai in hoping to become the first Chinese player to win the Tianjin Open played at the Tianjin Tuanbo International Tennis Center.
âWe are very excited about the player field for this year. It is has always been our goal to ensure that we bring the best players in the world to Tianjin. To have marquee players in Agnieszka, Svetlana and Timea join us along with the current Olympic Champions in Monica and Elena it really is a great result for us but more importantly for the fans who will now be treated to some amazing tennis,â enthused Tournament Director Stephen Duckitt.
Tianjin open has already been held twice. The 2016 WTA Tianjin open, which gives out $500,000 in prize money, will be held in Tuanbo International Tennis Center from October 10th to 16th. Then it will attract more international tennis stars to come to Tianjin, creating the opportunities for the tennis enthusiasts to contact with tennis stars and setting off a craze for tennis in Tianjin. The Tianjin open big family is looking forward to meeting each participant and supporter of them, and also anticipates that they could grow up together with each other.
This year's Tianjin Open will feature four top 20 stars, three Rio 2016 Olympic medalists, two previous Tianjin Open champions and two Chinese heroes after tournament organizers confirmed that two-time Grand Slam Champion and current World No.10 Svetlana Kuznetsova, World No.15 and Doubles Silver Medalist Timea Bacsinszky, 2016 Singles Gold Medalist Monica Puig and Wimbledon semi-finalist and Doubles Gold Medalist Elena Vesnina (World #20) will join China's Zhang Shuai and Peng Shuai for the third edition of the Tianjin Open during a lavish launch ceremony held at the Hyatt Regency Tianjin East earlier today.
The sextet also join the previously announced World No. 4 and 2015 Tianjin Open Champion Agnieszka Radwanska and 2014 Champion Alison Riske in a stellar tournament field.
Puig, who is currently ranked 35 but sits just outside the Top 20 of the Road to Singapore rankings, comes into Tianjin with a chance of qualifying for either of the two WTA season-ending event, the WTA Finals in Singapore or the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
