WUHAN, October 5, 2025 (Press Release)
Top two seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek are ready to compete for the 2025 DONGFENG • VOYAH WUHAN OPEN trophy, although this year’s all-star line-up means that they will face plenty of competition for the WTA 1000 title.
Sabalenka could join an extremely select group of players who have won four titles in a row at the same tournament with another victory in Wuhan. The World No. 1 said she was delighted to be back in the city where she first won, aged 20, in 2018.
“I feel good. I just didn’t want to rush my body into the tournament,” said Sabalenka, who opted to miss the China Open to rest her body after a busy summer US swing which peaked with victory at the US Open.
“So I think we made the right decision to take extra time for recovery and for the preparation, and now physically, I feel ready to go. But am I confident about winning for the fourth time? I don’t know about that, but I can assure you that I will do my best, and hopefully I can claim this beautiful title again.”
Only three players have won four WTA titles in a row at the same tournament in the last 30 years – Caroline Wozniacki (New Haven), Venus Williams (New Haven), Monica Seles (Canadian Open). Only Seles achieved it at a WTA 1000 or equivalent event.
Swiatek could take a big stride forward in her chase to reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Sabalenka with victory in Wuhan but she refused to look too far ahead when speaking at her pre-tournament Media Conference.
“Every tournament I go to I want to play my best game. Sometimes I deliver; sometimes not but my expectation is to just do my best,” said Swiatek, who, like Sabalenka, receives a bye into the second round in Wuhan. “I’m really going to take it step by step and focus on the first match. For sure, Aryna feels good here, and she won here a few times, but it doesn’t really affect my process.”
Main Draw play begins on Monday in Wuhan with an all-US battle between Hailey Baptiste and Ashlyn Krueger on center court before Katerina Siniakova takes on Diana Shnaider, with local favourites Lin Zhu and Xinyu Wang also in action. Rising young stars Maya Joint and Victoria Mboko, both of whom won debut WTA titles in 2025, have tough opposition with Joint facing Lin Zhu and Mboko up against ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Siniakova was among the winners on the final day of qualifying on Sunday, which saw an upset win for Anastasia Zakharova over 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
