Maria Sharapova arrives at Shenzhen Open

Source: Maria Sharapova's Twitter

Tennis icon Maria Sharapova and 16-year-old Chinese sensation Wang Xinyu got themselves ready for a roaring start to the new season with a visit to the Longgang Dragon Square here in Shenzhen. ‘Long Cheng Guang Chang’, as it’s known locally, is a famous landmark square in the heart of the Longgang district of Shenzhen city and features a towering statue of a bronze dragon as its centerpiece.

Sharapova made her long-awaited return to tour this April and has steadily climbed up the rankings since, culminating with her first title in two years coming at Tianjin in October.

“Last year’s title in Tianjin was quite meaningful after not having a title for a couple of years. I felt like I’ve built quite a good base at the end of last season and now to start the year in a new place is always exciting. We travel around the world often to the same places and see the same people, so to see a new set of fans here in Shenzhen and to experience a new environment and stadium - it’s always invigorating to start a year that way,” said the 30-year-old Russian, who will be making her Shenzhen Open debut next week.

Meanwhile, Wang is set to be the youngest female player in the main draw of next month's Australian Open. The plucky lass defeated top seed Misaki Doi in the semi-final and Abigail Tere-Apisah in the final of the Australian Open Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff early this month to book her spot in Melbourne.

“I think the key to my victory was to just keep going and never give up, even when you’re not playing your best tennis. It just felt amazing because me and my team, we didn’t think I could make it and so we’re very happy I did. I haven’t played matches in a long time because of the off season so it would be nice to start 2018 with a good performance in Shenzhen. I’m excited to play here in front of my home fans as I’m sure I will get a lot of support,” said the Shenzhen native, who will be youngest ever Chinese tennis player to feature in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

The Shenzhen Open is organized by the Chinese Tennis Association, Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sport and Tourism and CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company and is co-organized by the Bureau of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Longgang District, Shenzhen Gemdale Sports Industry Co. Ltd. and Kaisa Culture Sports & Tourism Group.

Shenzhen Open boasts stunning line-up

The Shenzhen Open will celebrate its sixth anniversary and has promised to deliver an exciting US$750,000 International Series WTA tournament set to be played December 30, 2017 to January 6, 2018.

The tournament has announced that world no.1 Simona Halep will lead the charge. Joining her will be the phenomenal Maria Sharapova as well as the reigning French Open champion and breakout star in women’s tennis for 2017, Jelena Ostapenko. And joining this illustrious trio of stars will be China’s youngest player in the top 50, Wang Qiang.

Through the 2017 season, Halep, who has collected a total of 15 career titles, came close to wresting the world no.1 ranking for the first time on a number of occasions. A winner in Madrid and a finalist at Roland Garros, she finally achieved her lifelong dream at the end of the season when the cards fell her way and she became the first Romanian woman to crowned year-end world no.1. It is a title all tennis players strive for because it means you have reached the pinnacle of your profession.

Simona Halep
(Source: Julian Finney/Getty Images AsiaPac)

The return of Sharapova to the Tour this year provided another level of excitement for the tennis world. The legendary Russian continued to be one of the most talked about women in all sport. Sharapova is a winner of 36 career titles including five majors and she is one of a handful of active players to have played more than 750 matches (768).

At the start of the French Open in May not many knew too much about the Latvian teenager Jelena Ostapenko but as the year’s second major progressed the chatter became louder. She turned 20 during those two weeks in Paris and incredibly, unseeded, she became the French Open champion coming back from a service break down in the final set to defeat Simona Halep. She continued to produce great tennis and qualified for the year-end Championship for the first time and ended the season as world no.7.

Jelena Ostapenka
(Source: Julian Finney/Getty Images AsiaPac)

China’s Wang Qiang enjoyed the best year of her career and reached a career high year-end ranking of 45. Through 2017 the 25-year-old from Tianjin, won Zhengzhou made the semis in Hong Kong and besides the Shenzhen Open also made the quarters in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai.

The Shenzhen Open continues to be the richest International Series tournament on the WTA Tour. The 2018 singles champion will earn US$163,260 while the finalist will collect US$81,251.

Similarly to the 2017 event, every single match will be filmed for broadcast – this continues to be a massive boost to the global broadcast footprint of the tournament. Live stream of the tournament will also be available online. While you're enjoying live streaming tennis matches online, feel free to also play instant casino games at Euro Palace.

The final days of the tournament will again be broadcast on CCTV 5 in China along with Guangdong TV. It is estimated that the global broadcast reach of the event will exceed 225 million households.

Tickets to see, Simona Halep, Jelena Ostapenko, Maria Sharapova, Wang Qiang and the other stars of the WTA Tour will be on sale through the official website: www.ShenzhenOpenTennis.com