Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff on course for Wuhan rematch, Navarro dodges Zheng

WUHAN, China—The draw for the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open is out, and there could be fireworks in store when the second leg of back-to-back WTA 1000 events of the Asian Swing kicks off on Monday.

With most players arriving from Beijing, the singles draw is a mix of experienced veterans—like two-time champion Aryna Sabalenka, the heavy favorite and top seed who claimed back-to-back titles here in 2018 and 2019.

But as the tournament returns to the WTA Tour calendar for the first time since 2019, there are also plenty of big names who have never competed here before—including No. 4 seed Coco Gauff.

Read More: Karolina Muchova serves her way past Zheng Qinwen for Beijing final clash with Coco Gauff

View Draw: Wuhan — Women's Singles — Full Draw with Qualifiers

Anchoring the top half of the draw, Sabalenka and Gauff are on a semifinal collision course with the American leading their head-to-head 4-3. Most recently, Sabalenka took down Gauff in the Australian Open semifinals en route to the title, claiming revenge after the American's victory in their 2023 US Open final clash.

Sabalenka awaits the winner of Katerina Siniakova and wildcard Alexandra Eala in the second round, while Gauff will make her debut against either Ashlyn Krueger or Viktoriya Tomova in the second round.

Their half of the draw also features seeds like No. 6 Emma Navarro—a potential quarterfinal opponent for Sabalenka—as well as No. 8 Daria Kasatkina and No. 14 Marta Kostyuk, who both landed in Gauff’s section.

Navarro landed on the opposite side of the draw as No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen—whom the American famously branded as "cut-throat" in a tense post-match exchange at the Olympics. Zheng, a native of Hubei who trained in Wuhan as a child, is set to compete in the main draw of her hometown event for the first time.

Read More: Emma Navarro opens up about Olympic beef with "cut-throat" rival Zheng Qinwen

Having bowed out in the first round of qualies here as a 16-year-old back in 2019, Zheng now returns as the reigning Olympic gold medalist and a Top 10 force. She awaits the winner between wild card Jaqueline Cristian and Camila Osorio, while No. 3 Jasmine Paolini and No. 16 Mirra Andreeva also landed in her section.

No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula anchors the bottom half of the draw, and like Zheng she’s among the players ready to make new memories in Wuhan. The last time Pegula competed here was in 2019 during her Top 100 breakthrough season, and she bowed out 6-0, 6-1 to Polona Hercog in her opening match.

Read More: Jessica Pegula embraces “like new” Wuhan tournament, builds towards WTA Finals return

Five years later, Pegula is now a Grand Slam finalist and a Top 5 fixture—so expect her to win at least “more than one game” as she awaits the winner of Anastasia Potapova and wildcard Katie Volynets in the second round.

Also in Pegula’s section are No. 7 seed Barbora Krejcikova, a potential quarterfinal opponent, and No. 14 Paula Badosa, who knocked the American out of Beijing in straight sets last week.

Stay tuned for a full draw analysis and predictions from Steve Tignor.