Elina Svitolina was ready to get going! She arrived first in Zhuhai, where she reached the semifinals last year.

She’s already got a huge fan club in Zhuhai too!

Also popular with the Chinese fans, Petra Kvitova and Zhang Shuai were on hand for the official draw ceremony.

Following the flowers theme, Kvitova and Zhang drew the players into four groups: Rose, Camellia, Peony and Azalea.

The court is ready at custom-designed and state-of-the-art Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Centre!

Timea Bacsinszky took the court against Zhang for the first match of the tournament!

Despite her best effort, Bacsinszky suffered a straights sets drubbing against China’s No.1.

Meanwhile, Svitolina had to mount an epic comeback, but after two Rose Group victories she’s through to the semifinals.

It wasn’t a good day in the office for singles alternate Timea Babos though. She bowed out after two straight sets losses.

Zhang delighted Chinese fans as she booked the first semifinal spot, winning the Camellia Group with a pair of dominating performances.

Despite falling in the group stage, Bacsinszky gave us the most memorable press conference moment when she donned a Chinese opera mask she received as a gift.

Will we see more of Roberta Vinci in 2017? The Italian veteran left her future up in the air after leaving Zhuhai with two group stage losses.

But the tournament continues, and there are still two semifinal spots up for grabs! The Azalea Group spot could go to Johanna Konta…

…unless her opponent Caroline Garcia defeats her and snatches it away.

In the Peony Group, Barbora Strycova hits the court looking for a semifinal berth…

…but she faces stiff competition from Kvitova, whose tennis has flourished in recent weeks during the Asian Swing.