Petra Kvitova, Elina Svitolina and Roberta Vinci first named qualifiers for WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai 2016

The 2016 Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai (WETZ) announced it's first three qualifiers today -- two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 2015 US Open finalist Roberta Vinci and Ukrainian young star Elina Svitolina. This is the second edition of the premium event which will be staged from November 1-6 in the coastal city of southern China. The 12 player event is mandatory for singles players ranked from No.9 to No.19 on the WTA rankings.

Petra Kvitova

Peter Johnston, Tournament Director of WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai sent congratulations to the three qualifiers. "Our congratulations to Petra, Roberta and Elina on being the first confirmed qualifiers for this years's WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. These women are some of the WTA's biggest stars and great ambassadors of the women's game. Our fans are going to love watching them play live in Zhuhai."

Winning the Wimbledon title in both 2011 and 2014, Petra Kvitova has been ranked amongst the WTA's top players for a number of years. She is regarded as one of the favourite WTA players in China having always played well here including twice winning the single title at the Wuhan Open.

Kvitova had a tough start this year, but most recently, she has bounced back winning the Olympic bronze medal at Rio, and following up capturing the title in Wuhan and reaching the quarter-final at the China Open in Beijing.

"I'm really looking forward to making my debut in Zhuhai this year," said the two-time Wimbledon champion. "It's always exciting to play a new tournament for the first time and I just had a great two weeks of tennis in China so I know how much support we will get over there! I'm looking forward to some competitive matches and have heard lots of positive things about the tournament and overall experience."

Elina Svitolina

Elina Svitolina qualified for Zhuhai last year and reached the semi-final before losing to Karolina Pliskova. The Ukrainian achieved her career-best ranking of No.14 in March this year. Besides winning the championship at Kuala Lumpur and reaching the final at New Heaven, she stunned the world, becoming the first player to defeat reigning world No.1 twice this year, beating Serena Williams in Rio and new world No.1 Angelique Kerber in Beijing.

Roberta Vinci also played in Zhuhai last year and reached the semi-final. The Italian is famous among fans because of her classical tennis style and her love of the game which is always on display when she plays. Last year, she stunned Serena Williams in the semi-final of US Open while the reigning No.1 was seeking to collect her fourth Grand Slam of the season. As the oldest player breaking into the Top 10 for the first time, Vinci is still maintaining her place in Top 20 as a 33-year-old player.

Roberta Vinci

According to the current leaderboard ranking, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur and former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki are still in contention for places in Zhuhai.

Being the top mandatory event in south China, the 2016 Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy offers a total of $2,210,000 in prize money. Twelve singles players will be divided into four groups of three in a round robin format. One winner in each group will enter the semi-final to fight for the title and 700 ranking points. For doubles, four pairs will qualify together with two wildcards. For more details about the WTA Elite Trophy, please feel free to enter the official website http://www.wtaelitetrophy.com or dial 400-9686400.