Wuhan Tennis Open: Start date, how to watch, past winners, history & more

Top-class tennis returns to Wuhan for the first time in five years with the Wuhan Tennis Open, the last WTA 1000 event before next month's WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka won the last two stagings of the tournament, in 2018 and 2019.

This is set to be a cracking renewal with the top 25 in the WTA rankings all entered, including defending champion Sabalenka.

Wuhan Tennis Open dates

The Wuhan Tennis Open starts on Monday 7th October and the final is due to take place on Sunday 13th October 2024.

Wuhan Tennis Open Venue

The Wuhan Tennis Open takes place at the Optics Valley Tennis Centre in Wuhan, China.

The facility includes a 15,000-seat Central Court and a 5,000-seater annex forming Court 1, as well as six outer courts.

All eight are outdoor hard courts.

Wuhan Tennis Open How to watch

Sky Sports Tennis, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ will have coverage of the Wuhan Tennis Open, while it will also be available to watch on bet365's Sports Live Streaming service.

WTA Wuhan Tennis Open Favourites

In the five years since Sabalenka won the last running of this tournament she has collected three Grand Slam titles, including the US Open in September.

The Belarusian is sure to be a popular pick, but this is a high-class field featuring five other major winners.

Iga Swiatek isn't the unstoppable force of a couple of years ago, but she remains world number one and collected a fourth French Open title in the summer.

Coco Gauff was just 15 the last time this event was run, but the world No.6 and 2023 US Open champion is sure to be prominent in the betting, too.

Another rising American star, Emma Navarro, could also be worth a look in the market after her run to the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, while the strongest home challenge is likely to come from Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng.

Caroline Garcia, the 2017 Wuhan champion is also among the entries, but Britain's Emma Raducanu misses the tournament due to the ankle injury that forced her to retire from her Korea Open quarter-final recently.

Wuhan Tennis Open History

The Wuhan Tennis Open was one of three new tournaments in China added in 2014, taking over from the Pan Pacific Open as a Premier-5 event.

This will be the first year the event has enjoyed WTA 1000 status, making it one of the two biggest tournaments in East Asia, along with the China Open in Beijing which immediately precedes it on the calendar.

Wuhan Tennis Open Past Winners

Petra Kvitova beat Eugenie Bouchard to win the inaugural title and collected a second Wuhan crown two years later, while Venus Williams took the prize in 2015.

Garcia beat Ash Barty to the title in 2017, before Sabalenka's two triumphs.