Naomi Osaka confirmed for Hong Kong Tennis Open as organisers announce extended 2018 line-up
The 20-year-old from Japan will be joined at Victoria Park in October by 2017 finalist Daria Gavrilova and former US Open champion Sam Stosur
Organisers revealed that joining 20-year-old Osaka at Victoria Park from October 6-14 will be 2017 finalist Daria Gavrilova, 2011 Flushing Meadows champion Sam Stosur and 2017 Wimbledon junior champion Claire Liu.
French No 2 Alize Cornet, Lesia Tsurenko and four-time grand slam doubles champion Ekaterina Makarova will also head to Hong Kong, while Chinese No 3 Zheng Saisai will represent home hopes.
“We are excited to welcome this group of accomplished players to this year’s event, adding depth to an already talented line-up which features three top 10 players,” said tournament director and Hong Kong Tennis Association chief Chris Lai.
“Naomi’s exceptional success in New York marks her as the one to beat in Hong Kong and she will be a big draw for fans looking to see the next big thing in women’s tennis.
“The strength of the player field is testament to the reputation PHKTO has built in the last four years and fans can expect some highly competitive matches right from the opening round in October.”
New world No 7 Osaka, who became the first player from Japan to win a major, will also face competition from world No 6 Elina Svitolina, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and China’s numbers No 1 and 2, Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang respectively.
