CHARLESTON, S.C./WASHINGTON, April 1, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
The Credit One Charleston Open, the largest women’s-only professional tennis tournament in North America, has returned to the South Carolina Lowcountry. Beginning Monday, the WTA 500 singles draw features a deep player field that includes four major champions, six former Charleston titlists, two former World No. 1 stars and 10 Top-20 players, including three in the Top 10.
Headlining the 48-player draw on the green clay at LTP Daniel Island is current World No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States, World No. 6 and defending champion Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and World No. 9 Maria Sakkari of Greece. They are the top three seeds.
Joining 2023 champion Jabeur are 2011 Charleston champ Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, 2016 titlist Sloane Stephens of the United States, 2017 winner Daria Kasatkina of Russia, 2019 champ Madison Keys of the United States and 2021 titlist Veronika Kudermetova of Russia.
Friendly familiar faces 😊#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/PkOlOlw4ux
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) March 31, 2024
Wild cards were awarded to former World No. 1 Wozniacki as well as to World No. 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, Charleston native Shelby Rogers and 2023 Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Clervie Ngounoue of the United States, who at age 17 is the youngest competitor in the main draw.
Bia has entered the chat 🇧🇷@biahaddad1 is back in Charleston for the first time since 2018 👏#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/JwnFM6Zvyp
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) March 31, 2024
Wozniacki will be featured on Credit One Stadium Monday afternoon against American lucky loser McCartney Kessler. Haddad Maia, seeded fifth, will face either Caroline Dolehide or Kayla Day, both of the United States, following a first-round bye, and both Rogers and Ngounoue are part of the Monday night session in Credit One Stadium. Rogers, once ranked as high as No. 30 and currently sitting at 325th, will play qualifier Claire Liu of the United States and Ngounoue will play qualifier Varvara Gracheva of France.
“Welcoming back Shelby Rogers back to the courts at an event that holds special significance for her as a local player means a great deal to our tournament and our fans,” tournament director Bob Moran said recently of Rogers, who will be playing in just her fourth main draw match this year after missing the second half of the 2023 season due to injury. “Shelby’s determination to return to the game she loves is truly inspiring.it’s a moment of pride for us to see her compete on her hometown, and we look forward to supporting her throughout the tournament.”
Familiar faces in the Lowcountry 😀
2011 champ Caroline Wozniacki and Charleston local Emma Navarro (World No. 17) hit the clay for some practice 🎾#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/An2G5wShEp
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) March 30, 2024
Among those to watch is 22-year-old American Emma Navarro, who last month reached the Top 20 at No. 20 following her first WTA title win in Hobart. She’s been a semifinalist in Auckland and San Diego and recently was a quarterfinalist at Indian Wells. Her 20 tour-level wins is third-best this season behind Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina. She’s one of 16 Americans in the singles draw.
Other crowd favorites competing this week include: No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, No. 11 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 12 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, American Taylor Townsend, Leylah Fernandez Canada, Paula Badosa of Spain and Miami Open champion Danielle Collins of the United States.
The Credit One Charleston Open, operated by Charleston Tennis LLC, dates back to 1973 and is a pioneer in women’s professional sports. It was originally held on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina before moving to Charleston in 2001. It’s currently held on Daniel Island at LTP Daniel Island. The tournament celebrated its 50th year in 2022 and it has been recognized as the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year in each of the last two years.
Can’t beat this place 🙌
Charleston – where the court meets the coast in Lowcountry paradise 🌊🌴 pic.twitter.com/3oMjc3unmt
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) March 31, 2024
Around the Credit One Charleston Open
Qualifying draw play wrapped up Sunday afternoon with six players and two lucky losers advancing to round out the 48-player singles draw. Qualifiers advancing were: Americans Katie Volynets, Sachia Vickery and Claire Liu; Gabriela Lee of Romania, Daria Saville of Australia and Varvara Gracheva of France. Also, lucky losers McCartney Kessler of the United States and Astra Sharma of Australia were placed into the draw.
2 more qualifiers seal the deal 👏
Americans Claire Liu and Sachia Vickery power into the main draw with their respective victories today!#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/SoXGDu81Pf
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) March 31, 2024
Tournament play begins at 11 a.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Central European) with nine singles and four doubles matches on Monday’s order of play.
Main draw play at @CharlestonOpen begins Monday. The OOP has plenty to be excited about as North America’s largest women’s-only tournament gets underway on the green clay in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. 🎾 #tennis pic.twitter.com/Y5mHAjQaH1
— Michael Dickens (@michaelcdickens) April 1, 2024
