China returns to the Women’s Tennis Association autumn calendar after a four-year absence with seven tournaments in the mainland and Hong Kong confirmed on Friday.
With the exception of last year’s Beijing Winter Olympics, which took place in a “bubble”, most global sport halted in China after the Covid-19 pandemic emerged there in late 2019.
The WTA had also suspended events in China for 16 months until last April in the wake of a sexual assault claim by Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.
On Friday, the WTA announced the 2023 autumn calendar “outlining the tournaments that will take place following the US Open through to the WTA Finals” which takes place in the Chinese city of Shenzhen from October 30.
The Guangzhou event will be the first tournament in China starting the week of September 18.
It will be followed by Ningbo from September 25 with the China Open in Beijing from October 2, which is one of two WTA 1000 events scheduled along with Guadalajara from September 18.
Zhengzhou will be included in WTA 500 events from October 9 along with San Diego and Tokyo, which both take place in September.
Guangzhou (September 18), Ningbo (September 25), Hong Kong (October 9) and Nanchang (October 16) are among WTA 250 tournaments, along with Osaka, Seoul and Monastir.
In addition the WTA Elite Trophy second-tier tournament takes place in Zhuhai in China from October 23.
The WTA said that along with the tournaments confirmed on Friday “continual expansion of WTA 125 events across several continents with an updated schedule released in the coming weeks”.
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
