Wuhan Open Predictions: Bartůňková A Dark Horse Worth Backing In Pursuit Of WTA Victory

Aryna Sabalenka is the tennis betting favourite for the 2026 Wuhan Open and William Hill News have previewed the upcoming tournament.

Despite the withdrawals of Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Amanda Anisimova, it’s a strong field for the final WTA 1000 event before the WTA Finals.

Wear and tear is always a factor at this time of year, with several other big names pulling out of the event, including Naomi Osaka, Anastasia Potapova, and Emma Navarro.

Gauff is the defending champion, and top seed Sabalenka is coming off a third-round exit at the China Open.

Race to WTA Finals

This is a high-stakes tournament in the race to the WTA Finals. Rybakina and Sabalenka are the only players guaranteed of a place in the season-ending showpiece – it’s all to play for further down the rankings, with Karolína Muchová and Linda Nosková currently occupying seventh and eighth, respectively.

Marta Kostyuk is 324 points behind Nosková. Iga Świątek is a further 326 behind Kostyuk. Into the quarters in the China Open, Świątek is very much alive in the race to Indian Wells.

Despite winning in Guadalajara, the WTA Finals are out of Iva Jovic’s reach, though the American remains a player to watch in Wuhan.

Wuhan Open Predictions

It’s hard to have much faith in Sabalenka, despite the world number two sitting atop the latest odds. Yes, she was excellent en route to the US Open final, but her last few months have been riddled with disappointing performances.

Świątek has been on a deep run at the China Open and will be fiercely motivated in Wuhan as she pursues a WTA Finals berth. Also into the semis in Beijing, Mirra Andreeva fell to Leylah Fernandez in Singapore, and has a mixed hard-court record in 2026.

What about another latter-stage appearance from Zheng Qinwen? With no Gauff or Rybakina, the Wuhan Open is wide open. Very few players have played better than Zheng over the last month, with a bounce-back US Open performance backed up by a strong showing in Beijing.

Kostyuk has lost some momentum since the end of the grass-court season. The upside is there to go all the way in Wuhan, but she’d need a real turnaround in form.

After beating Muchová and Sabalenka in Beijing, keep a close eye on Nikola Bartůňková. The 20-year-old Czech had two of her three wins over top-10 players at the China Open and couldn’t be carrying better form into this event.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*