With just one month to the start of this year's last Grand Slam tournament in New York, the North American hard courts swing starts next week from a WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open, hosted in Washington DC. The women's field of the joint event of both WTA and ATP is absolutely stunning. The local fans will surely hope for the good performance of the Americans, as the hosts are represented by the very strong squad completed by 8 world class players.
First quarter
Jessica Pegula headlines the main draw as a top seed. The current world's number 4 and top ranked US player gets a bye in the opening round, but it's very close to the all-American clash in second round. The 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin got awarded with wild card into main draw and plays against the qualifier in first round. In case of winning this match, she sets up the match-up against Pegula in second round.
The first quarter is absolutely stacked. Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka are another big names there to set up the hit clash in first round. The 5th seed Daria Kasatkina plays against Elise Mertens and the winner of this match will play against the Ukrainian or the Belarusian in second round.
Second quarter
Three of Americans are placed in second quarter. The 7th seed Madison Keys sets up an intriguing match-up against Qinwen Zheng. Both the players were successful in recent weeks, as Keys won the WTA 500 grass event in Eastbourne in June, while Zheng approaches Washington DC just after clinching her maiden WTA title in Palermo Ladies Open last week. Jennifer Brady is another big name in the draw. The 2021 Australian Open runner-up comes back after about two years of being out from competition due to injury issues. Brady came back last week during the ITF event in Canada. This will be her first WTA level appearance since 2021, as she enters the main draw on the protected ranking basis. Anhelina Kalinina is her opponent in first round. Bernarda Pera is another US player in this section and starts from the match against qualifier. 4th seed Maria Sakkari can be her second round's opponent, as the Greek got bye for first round.
Third quarter
Cori Gauff and Belinda Bencic are the biggest names in third quarter. The Swiss sets up an interesting first round's match against Anastasia Potapova. Gauff got a bye for the first round as third seed, while former world's number one Karolina Pliskova can be her second round's rival in case of overcoming qualifier for the start. The 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens is also there and waits for the opponent from the qualifying field same as Pliskova.
Fourth quarter
Liudmila Samsonova is the reigning champion of the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The Russian got placed in last quarter as the 8th seed and starts her campaign from one of the most intriguing first round clashes, playing against Danielle Collins. The 2022 Australian Open runner-up is another main draw wild-card recipient, as she dropped down in the rankings after quite a shaky start of the year and missing most of the European season. "Danimal" showed up really well at Wimbledon though, coming up just a little short against Belinda Bencic in second round's match which was one of the most exciting battles in whole the tournament. Bianca Andreescu is another wild-card to play in last quarter, setting up an interesting match against Marta Kostyuk. The winner of this clash will play against Caroline Garcia, who starts her Washington's campaign from round of 16 as a second seed.
All the qualifiers spots will be complemented after the end of two-rounds qualifying draw, which starts tomorrow. The start of main draw is scheduled for Monday 31.07 and Tuesday 01.08.
