Kazakh tennis player Yulia Putintseva has successfully come through qualifying at the Wuhan Open, a WTA-1000 tournament with a prize pool of $4.08 million, according to infohub.kz.
Putintseva, a two-time bronze medalist at the 2026 Asian Games and the world No. 82 at age 31, faced Elena-Gabriela Ruse (No. 62) in the first round of qualifying. The Romanian retired from the match while trailing 5-7, 1-2.
To reach the main draw, the Kazakh player took on a higher-ranked opponent, 22-year-old American Ashlyn Krueger (No. 67). Winning four games in a row, Yulia went up 4-0 and ultimately took the first set 6-1.
Putintseva was just as assured in the second set. Leading 3-0, she dropped two straight games, but then broke her opponent to love and consolidated the break for 5-2. The match ended after 1 hour 16 minutes, 6-1, 6-3.
Putintseva's opponent in the opening round of the main draw will be determined once all qualifying matches are completed.
World No. 1 Elena Rybakina, while recovering from an injury, has withdrawn from defending the 215 ranking points she earned in Wuhan last year. Defending 2025 champion Coco Gauff of the United States, who is also skipping the tournament, will drop 1,000 points. All the other Top-10 players are preparing to start in the 1000-level event.
In doubles, Kazakhstan will be represented by another 2026 Asian Games bronze medalist, 31-year-old Anna Danilina (No. 6). Paired with 37-year-old Zhang Shuai of China (No. 7), she will begin her campaign in the second round. The Kazakh-Chinese duo is seeded second in Wuhan.
The Wuhan Open women's tournament replaced the Japanese WTA-500 Pan Pacific Open in the tennis calendar in 2014. Since 2025, the Wuhan Open has held 1000-level status.
For well-known reasons that made the city of Wuhan infamous around the world, the tournament was not held from 2020 to 2023. Before that, it was won by Czech Petra Kvitova (2014, 2016), American Venus Williams (2015), France's Caroline Garcia (2017) and, three years in a row, Aryna Sabalenka (2018, 2019, 2024).