China Open 2026: Draws announced for Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal & Harriet Dart
• 2 minute read
The draws have been announced for the main draw of the WTA 1000 event at the China Open - taking place from 30 September - 11 October.
Here’s a full round up of the British players competing at the China Open, including their first round draws.
China Open first round draws
- Katie Boulter (GBR) vs Mai Hontama (JPN)
- Sonay Kartal (GBR) vs Andrea Lazaro Garcia (ESP)
- Harriet Dart (GBR) vs Yihan Qu (CHN)
Katie Boulter starts her campaign in Beijing against Japanese qualifier Mai Hontama. Boulter won their only previous meeting which came at the W80 Gifu in 2023, where the Brit recorded a 6-4, 7-6(1) win.
The winner of that match will go on to face seventh seed and Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova. Should the Brit win her opening round match, it will mark a third career meeting between the pair, and second this year following Muchova’s straight set victory over Boulter in the second round of the US Open.
Last year’s quarter-finalist Sonay Kartal will also kick-start her tournament against a qualifier, in what is only her second tournament in six months. Kartal had been out for six months due to a back injury but made her return to action last week at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals where she narrowly lost out to Marie Bouzkova in three sets.
Now turning her attention to Beijing, Kartal will face Spain’s Andrea Lazaro Garcia, and will look to embark on another dream run at the WTA 1000 event.
Harriet Dart also joins Boulter and Kartal in the main draw after breezing through qualifying. The British No.4 sealed back-to-back straight-set victories over Tiphanie Fiquet and YeXin Ma to reach the main draw where she’ll play 17-year-old wild card Yihan Qu.
The teenager is currently ranked No.1297 in the world but will have nothing to lose as she gets her first taste of competing on one of the biggest stages in tennis.
If Dart can overcome one of the home favourites, she’ll set up a tough second round clash against the in-form Iva Jovic, who enters the tournament as the 10th seed.
The China Open main draw will get underway from Wednesday 30 September.
You can watch all the action from the China Open live exclusively on Sky Sports and NOW TV.
