BEIJING — World No. 1 Elena Rybakina headlines the WTA 1000 China Open draw and could face resurgent Zheng Qinwen early, while World No. 4 Coco Gauff has landed in the quarter of death alongside Iva Jovic and Iga Swiatek and World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka has avoided the biggest names until the final.
Newly-crowned US Open champion Rybakina, the top seed and three-time Grand Slam winner, leads the field where all 32 seeds receive a bye into the second round. She will open against either Yulia Starodubtseva or Alina Charaeva, with 18th seed Marie Bouzkova a potential third-round opponent before a possible meeting with Zheng, who surged up the rankings with her run to the quarter-finals of the US Open. If seedings hold, Rybakina is projected to face either seventh seed Elina Svitolina or ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the quarter-final.
Third seed Gauff faces the toughest route. The American starts against either Lanlana Tararudee or Camila Osorio and could meet 13th seed Elise Mertens in the fourth round, with a US Open rematch against compatriot Jovic possible in the quarter-final. Teenager Jovic has a difficult bracket herself, potentially facing Leylah Fernandez — fresh from winning the Singapore Open — in the third round and Swiatek in the last 16. Swiatek, the eighth seed, opens against either Panna Udvardy or Xinyu Gao and is projected to meet 30th seed Donna Vekic in the third round before Jovic.
In the third quarter, World No. 5 Mirra Andreeva and No. 6 Linda Noskova are on a quarter-final collision course. Andreeva starts against Oleksandra Oliynykova or Yue Yuan and could face 14th seed Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round. Reigning Wimbledon champion Noskova kicks off against Elena-Gabriela Ruse or Lilli Tagger and is projected to meet 11th seed Diana Shnaider in the fourth round, though Shnaider will likely have to get past 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the round of 64 first.
Second seed Sabalenka has the kindest path among the top four and can only meet Swiatek, Gauff and Rybakina in the final. She faces either Anna Bondar or Renata Zarazua in her opener before a potential fourth-round meeting with either 16th seed Anastasia Potapova or 17th seed Maja Chwalinska. Her projected quarter-final opponent is sixth seed Karolina Muchova, who will likely need to get past 29th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the third round and Naomi Osaka in the fourth. The projected quarter-finals are Elena Rybakina (1) v Elina Svitolina (7), Coco Gauff (3) v Iga Swiatek (8), Linda Noskova (5) v Mirra Andreeva (4) and Karolina Muchova (6) v Aryna Sabalenka (2), with Gauff set to drop 1,390 points at the event.