Women’s Tennis Blog is reporting live from the 2014 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, a brand new event on the WTA calendar this year!
The new tournament marks the third time world-class women’s tennis returns to Hong Kong, following brief stints from 1980-1982 and a one-off event in 1993.
Located in the Victoria Park right at the heart of Hong Kong’s very busy Causeway Bay district, the tournament poses a special challenge for the players thanks to Hong Kong’s hot & humid climate.
Several well-known WTA players have taken up the challenge, as the likes of Sabine Lisicki, Daniela Hantuchova, Kimiko Date-Krumm, Francesca Schiavone & Monica Puig will face off with some of Asia’s most promising tennis prospects.
Monday started off with the qualifying finals as Kai-Lin Zhang, Elizaveta Kulichkova & Lin Zhu got their ticket to join the other main draw players on Tuesday.
The fourth and final player to make her way into the main draw was Jarmila Gajdosova. The Australian fought through a two-hour three-set match to seal her main draw apperance.
Aside from the qualifying finals, the fans in Hong Kong got to witness the first main draw action. The match-up between Kiki Bertens & Anna Schmiedlova did not disappoint, reaching its climax in the second-set tiebreak as Bertens prevailed to make round two of the tournament.
The day was rounded out by the first-round match between Israel’s Julia Glushko & American Grace Min. Up until the end of the first set, the spectators were treated to a rather close match, a rain delay seemed to have derailed Glushko though as Min stormed to a quick two-set win once play resumed.
The final match of the day wasn’t the only occasion in which rain interrupted play at the Prudential Hong Kong Open today, as several showers had forced play to be stopped during the day.
Hopefully, the conditions will be more pleasant tomorrow as Tuesday’s order of play is packed with no less than 12 singles matches, including the first appearances of all the top seeds.
Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for all the latest coverage from the 2014 Hong Kong Tennis Open!
