Venus Williams, Woz, Pennetta Headline WTA Events This Week in Austria, Hong Kong, China

GENERALI LADIES LINZ
Linz, Austria; Surface: Hard

Seeds: Lucie Safarova, Caroline Wozniacki, Roberta Vinci, Andrea Petkovic, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Camila Giorgi, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Barbora Strycova
ADHEREL
Floaters: Julia “Gorgeous” Goerges, Anika Beck

Notes: One Top 10 player in Safarova…Tough starts for (6) Giorgi vs. Goerges, and (5) Schmiedlova vs. the riser Beck…Wildcards were awarded to Austria’s Barbara Haas and Tamira Paszek, and Petkovic and Safarova…Pulling from the tournament were Sara Errani, Daniela Hantuchova, Madison Keys, Karin Knapp, and Tsvetana Pironkova…In last year’s final Karolina Pliskova beat Giorgi…There are no former champs in the field.

PRUDENTIAL HONG KONG TENNIS OPEN
Hong Kong, Sar; Surface: hard

Seeds: Angelique Kerber, Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Samantha Stosur, Daria Gavrilova, Caroline Garcia, Alize Cornet

Floaters: Francesca Schiavone

Notes: Top-seeded Garbine Muguruza pulled from the event after winning Beijing, forcing a shuffle of the draw…(2) Kerber will start against the former Slam winner Schiavone…Seeds Kerber, Jankovic and Stosur received wildcards…Also pulling from the event were Victoria Azarenka, Eugenie Bouchard, Zarina Diyas, Sabine Lisicki, Ajla Tomljanovic, and Coco Vandeweghe…No former champs are in the field…In last year’s final Lisicki topped Karolina Pliskova.

TIANJIN OPEN
Tianjin, China; Surface: hard

Seeds: Flavia Pennetta, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Kristina Mladenovic, Teliana Pereira, Alison Riske, Zheng Saisai

Floaters: none

Notes: Three Top 10ers in the field but little else…Pliskova this week is defending points from both the Linz championship and Hong Kong runner-up last year as a result of calendar shuffling…Wildcards went to the top-seeded Pennetta and China’s Duan Yingying and Zhang Yuxuan…Pulling from the tournament were Belinda Bencic, Alexandra Dulgheru, Marina Erakovic, Polona Hercog, and Monica Niculescu…In last year’s final Riske beat Bencic.