Hong Kong Tennis Open: draw features first-round Ukraine-Russia meeting, top seed Azarenka faces awkward start
- Dayana Yastremska, who won the 2018 Open, will begin a belated title defence against Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, with whom there is bad blood over pro-Putin post
- Top seed Victoria Azarenka to face 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez
The Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open draw has served up a first-round encounter on Monday between players from Ukraine and Russia, after reigning champion Dayana Yastremska was paired with 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
Ukraine’s Yastremska and Andreeva of Russia share recent history, following a falling-out at the Lausanne Open in July. Andreeva comfortably won the match, but Yastremska called for the WTA to sanction the teenager after she liked a social media post supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
No 1 seed Victoria Azarenka has been handed an awkward tie against Canadian Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up.
Wang Xiyu, winner of last month’s Guangzhou Open, plays Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic and another Chinese, Wang Xinyu, the No 4 seed, meets Elina Avanesyan of Russia.
The event at Victoria Park has returned after a five-year absence and features a host of leading players.
Hong Kong’s Cody Wong Hong-yi was among four players waiting to discover their first-round opponents, after the hoisting of typhoon signals on Sunday meant final qualification matches were pushed back to 11am on Monday.
The presence of Russian and Belarusian players on the women’s and men’s tours has been a thorny issue since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Last year, Wimbledon banned players from Russia and its ally Belarus, although it overturned that decision for this year’s event.
The war forced Yastremska to flee her hometown of Odesa, and in August last year she said: “If in other sports, the Russians and Belarusians are out of competition, I think in tennis it has to be the same.”
After losing heavily to Andreeva in Switzerland three months ago, Yastremska said: “I recently asked that sanctions be taken against Mirra Andreeva for having liked social media posts that clearly concerned the atrocities committed to Ukrainians and the WTA simply indicated it would not intervene.
“l am upset but remain committed to fighting for my country, my family and my friends in Ukraine.”
Yastremska won the Hong Kong Tennis Open in 2018, but the 23-year-old has slipped to No 100 in the world and has a tough task against Andreeva, who announced herself as an emerging force with a run to the fourth round of this year’s Wimbledon.
