After 3 months of emotions related to the Australian Summer, Middle East swing and Sunshine Double, the action of Hologic WTA Tour competition moves to clay. Traditionally, top WTA players start they clay season in South Carolina's Charleston, where they compete in next week's biggest only-women's tournament of the season - Credit One Charleston Open.
The entry list looks phenomenal, with four top 10 players in the field. Jessica Pegula headlines the main draw. The best ranked American player and world's number three is seeded with number one. The top half of the main draw contains also two previous winners of Charleston Open - Belinda Bencic (4th seed) and Veronika Kudermetova (5th seed). Bottom half contains last year's finalist Ons Jabeur being 2nd seed and two other players who took the trophy there in the past - Daria Kasatkina (3th seed) and Madison Keys (9th seed).
The main draw contains 56 players, which from the top 8 seeds get bye in first round. 8 spots are still to be complemented after qualifying phase finishes today. Apart from the top world class names and previous champions, the main draw ceremony have set up some interesting match-ups, which will be definitely the ones to watch in opening round.
Elina Svitolina comes back to action after the break caused by giving a birth to daughter of her and Gael Monfils. The Ukrainian got paired with Yulia Putintseva to create one of the most interesting match-ups from at the start of tournament. Ekaterina Alexandrova is the seed who got a bye and waits for the winner of this match. Home crowd's favorite Shelby Rogers sets up possibly the most interesting first round's clash against her fellowcountry Danielle Collins - seeded as #13. Veronika Kudermetova will start her Charleston campaign from the winner of intriguing match-up between Alycia Parks and Diana Shnaider. Paula Badosa (12th seed) against Leylah Fernandez is also the possible clash to wait for in second round, if both players move past their first round opponents.
Two seeds from the bottom half got also very tricky opponents to overcome from the start. Anhelina Kalinina seeded with #11 will play against Anna Kalinskaya. Jil Teichmann - 14th seed, sets up another interesting match, playing with Linda Fruhvirtova. Madison Brengle vs Kaia Kanepi will be a clash between the very experienced player, which will determine the opponent for Daria Kasatkina in second round. The Russian struggles a lot with her play this season and will definitely look forward to bounce back during the clay season. Victoria Azarenka can meet Sloane Stephens in the clash between Grand Slam champion, if the American passes her first opponent, who will be known after end of qualifying phase.
Here is how the main draw looks like:
