Chinese great gets Wuhan Open off to novel start

China's two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na hits shots with Ukrainian world No 6 Elina Svitolina on a floating court on Wuhan's East Lake on Sept 22. The event was part of efforts to promote the Hubei province capital－Li's hometown－during the Wuhan Open WTA tennis tournament. [Photo/IC]

Li Na produced plenty of highlights on the court during her playing days, and even in retirement China's two-time Grand Slam champion is serving up treats for fans.

In her role as global ambassador of her hometown Wuhan Open, Asia's first major singles champion on Saturday found herself hitting shots with world No 6 Elina Svitolina－in the middle of a lake.

Organizers of the Premier 5 WTA tournament, which is being staged at Optics Valley International Tennis Center from Sept 21-29, built a floating court on Wuhan's East Lake to stage the match, and Li agreed it was a novel way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Although it's not my first time to come to the East Lake, it's a new experience to play tennis in the middle of the lake and it's pretty hard!" she said.

With "Elina" sounding a lot like "Li Na" in Chinese, the cheers of watching locals and tourists merged as they enjoyed the action.

Li is well used to promoting Wuhan's scenery and culture－last year, the 36-year-old teamed up with Indian doubles ace Sania Mirza to prepare a feast of traditional noodles in the city's downtown area as fans got to mix with the stars.

The tournament has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2014, with this year's fifth edition boasting a star-studded lineup that features three of this year's Grand Slam winners competing for a prize pool of $2.7 million.

Topping the bill are Romanian world No 1 Simona Halep, who captured her first major at the French Open in June, Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Germany's Angelique Kerber, who won at Wimbledon in July.

Meanwhile, reigning Wuhan champion Caroline Garcia of France is back to defend her title, which she won by beating Australia's Ashleigh Barty in three sets.

The main draw got underway on Sunday following a special fifth-anniversary opening ceremony in the tournament's 15,000-seat centercourt arena.

Two former US Open champions were due in action in back-to-back night matches, with 2011 Flushing Meadows winner Samantha Stosur taking on local favorite Zheng Saisai, followed by 2017 US champ Sloane Stephens against world No 27 Anett Kontaveit.

Earlier, Wimbledon semifinalist Julia Goerges of Germany beat Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in three sets, while another Czech, Katerina Siniakova, beat Kristina Mladenovic of France in straight sets.

Sunday also marked the debut of the groundbreaking FoxTenn Real Bounce electronic line-call system in Wuhan, the first time that the state-of-the-art technology has featured at an event of this stature.

It has previously been used at a WTA International event in Nanchang and ATP Tour events in Europe but never at a WTA Premier or equivalent tournament

Putting a slight downer on proceedings was the withdrawal of Victoria Azarenka, a favorite of Chinese fans. The 29-year-old pulled out after retiring from a match in Tokyo on Friday with illness.

"It's so disappointing not be to able to come to Wuhan but I just won't recover and be ready in time to perform the way you need to at such a strong tournament," said the Belarusian.

"I've always enjoyed coming to Wuhan and I look forward to seeing everyone there in 2019."