Tennis: WTA Beijing with Paolini and Bronzetti, Cocciaretto knocked out in qualifying

Milan, Sept. 23 (LaPresse) – Two Italian players are competing in the main draw of the ‘China Open,’ the penultimate WTA 1000 event of the season, with a prize pool of $8,963,700, taking place on the hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Centre in Beijing (combined with an ATP 500). Jasmine Paolini enters directly into the second round (like all 32 seeds) and is placed in the bottom half of the draw, which is headed by Coco Gauff (No. 2), the defending champion. The 29-year-old from Bagni di Lucca, ranked No. 8 in the world and seeded 6th, will face the winner of the match between Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, No. 221 WTA (playing with a protected ranking), and Australia’s Kimberly Birrell, No. 85 WTA. Also in the bottom half of the draw is Lucia Bronzetti. The 26-year-old from Rimini, ranked No. 73 WTA (did not compete in Shenzhen due to fitness issues), will face Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova, No. 89, in the first round on Wednesday. The winner of this match will face Gauff, ranked No. 3 and seeded second, in the next round. In the qualifiers, Elisabetta Cocciaretto was eliminated in the final round. The 24-year-old from Fermo, ranked No. 91 WTA and the sixth seed, who also recently won the BJK Cup, lost 6-2, 6-4 in just over an hour and a half to Australia’s Priscilla Hon, ranked No. 108 WTA.