The 2016 Tashkent Open is a tournament which exists in the shadows of the WTA Tour. The highest-ranked player in this year’s field is No. 45 (before the new WTA rankings are released on Monday, September 26). Only three players are in the top 70. Why is this the case? You’ll read about it soon enough.
The competition in the 32-player main draw will begin on Monday, September 26.
Event Details
Event: Tashkent Open
Category: WTA International Level
Date: September 26 – October 1, 2016
Location: Tennis Centre of Tashkent – Tashkent, Uzbekistan
With a prize money allotment of roughly $225,000, there’s not a huge prize awaiting the players who participate in this event. This is partly because the event is an International Tier event, but it’s also because (and this is the main reason) the Wuhan Open in China, a Premier 5 event in which the top stars of the sport compete, occurs during the same week. This is an unfortunate situation, possibly because of the Olympics and how they compressed the calendar, but possibly because there was simply no other place to put Tashkent on the calendar. The Wuhan Open commands a prize money collection of just over $2.2 million, so that doesn’t leave much room for the Tashkent Open to command top dollar. You’re just not going to get a particularly amazing field of players with a Premier 5 taking place during the same week.
The points structure under the WTA system is that for the women, the championship at an International level tour event means 280 points. A runner-up finish is worth 180. A semifinal result is 110 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 60 points. Round-of-16 results will give 30 points.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Nao Hibino def. Donna Vekic – 6-2, 6-2
2014 – Karin Knapp def. Bojana Jovanovski – 6-2, 7-6
2013 – Bojana Jovanovski def. Olga Govortsova – 4-6, 7-5, 7-6
2012 – Irina-Camelia Begu def. Donna Vekic – 6-4, 6-4
2011 – Ksenia Pervak def. Eva Birnerova – 6-3, 6-1
Player Info:
The top seed for this event is Johanna Larsson of Sweden, ranked No. 45 in the world. Larsson has made a very minimal impression on the tennis world. In accordance with her ranking, she enjoys a good major tournament if she wins two matches in it. She’s not a second-week player in the major tournaments, representative of a large group of players trying to carve out a life on the tour. This is a big opportunity for her, more than the other players at this event. Larsson is ranked 13 spots higher than the second seed in this tournament, Kirsten Flipkens (at 58).
Taking a look at her numbers this year, Larsson is just 27-23 overall. She is 17-13 on the hard courts and 10-8 on clay, but has an 0-2 record on the grass. She should be able to go deep into this tournament mostly because of the field. As for Flipkens, she’s had a similar type of season as she’s just 20-18 on the year. She has a 13-9 record on the hard courts compared to 1-4 on clay and 4-3 on the grass. That’s in the Tour Main Draws; in other events, she is 9-5 overall.
Cagla Buyukakcay is the third seed at No. 64. The Turkish born player is 26-years-old and has had a relatively mediocre season. She has played in just 22 matches in the Tour Main Draw and she’s gone 12-10 in those contests. She is 5-4 on the hard courts. In other events, she’s 10-12.
Nao Hibino, the defending champion, is fourth at No. 76. She’s had a lousy season to date as she’s posted a record of 11-19 so far. She’s just 8-13 on hard courts this year and is 5-5 in other events (non main tour draws). Kurumi Nara is fifth (78). She is 14-14 on the year and 12-8 on hard courts. Lesia Tsurenko sixth (80), Hsieh Su-Wei seventh (82), and Sorana Cirstea eighth (85). This tournament is 17 years old, and not one champion has repeated. Bet against Hibino.
Tashkent Tennis Center
The Tashkent Tennis Center is a collection of outdoor hardcourts. There is very little shade to be found. The courts do not have overhangs or awnings as part of their structure, leaving courts which are exposed to the elements. If there’s a lot of wind, it will flow through the court and affect the nature of the competition.
