Pegula Headlines A Very Strong, Talented Charleston Open Field

Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula, 2025 champion (photo: Charleston Tennis LLC)

CHARLESTON, S.C./WASHINGTON, March 30, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

The main draw of the 54th edition of the Credit One Charleston Open, the largest women’s-only pro tennis tournament in North America, begins its week-long visit on Daniel Island today as the WTA Tour transitions from the hard courts of Indian Wells and Miami to the green clay of the South Caroline Lowcountry. 

The Credit One Charleston Open has been a model of excellence on the WTA Tour. It is reflected by the event being named as the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year for four straight years. The prestigious recognition, awarded by the Women’s Tennis Association and voted on by the players, honors the annual North American kick-off to the spring clay-court tennis season for the excellences of its staff and organization, its passionate fans and its broader commitment to the sport of tennis and its athletes.

It should come as no surprise that past champions such as Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys of the United States and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic enjoy returning to Charleston in preparation for the spring European clay season, which includes stops in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome, and culminates at Roland-Garros in late May.

The World No. 5 Pegula, for one, expressed why she always looks forward to coming back to Charleston each year. “The site, city, fans and energy make the experience so positive for me and all the players. Overall, the facilities are simply world-class,” she said recently.

This year’s 48-player main draw includes seven players currently featured in the WTA Top 20 and each of the 16 seeded players are Top-50 caliber. Top seed is Pegula, who returns to defend her 2025 Charleston title. Second seed is World No. 13 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, whom Pegula defeated in last year’s semifinal round. World No. 12 and Tokyo Olympic Games gold medalist Bencic, who won the 2022 Charleston title, is seeded third. Upstart 18-year-old Iva Jovic of the United States, ranked World No. 16, is the fourth seed.

The remaining seeds represent a cross-section of international players, who each have made names for themselves on the WTA Tour: No. 5 seed Keys, ranked 18th, who won the 2025 Australian Open title; No. 6 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, ranked 20th; No. 7 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia, ranked 19th; and No. 8 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, ranked 22nd.

Also, No. 9 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada, ranked 24th; No. 10 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece, ranked 36th; No. 11 seed Magdalena Frech of Poland, ranked 38th; No. 12 seed Janice Tjen of Indonesia, ranked 41st; No. 13 seed Sara Bejlek of Czechia, ranked 40th; No. 14 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, ranked 43rd; No. 15 seed Hailey Baptiste of the United States, ranked 33rd; and No. 16 seed Sofia Kenin of the United States, ranked 47th.

Pegula, who drew a first-round bye, will face either No. 72 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan or 105th-ranked Lulu Sun of New Zealand in her opening-round match, and could meet Cocciaretto in the third round. A possible quarterfinal opponent would be either Shnaider or Fernandez, and she could play Jovic or Kalinskaya in the semifinals.

At the bottom of the draw, Alexandrova will face either No. 62  Zhang Shuai of China or No. 89 Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine in her opening-round match, and could meet Baptiste in the third round. A possible quarterfinal opponent would be either Mertens or Tjen, and she could play Bencic or Keys in the semifinals.

Bencic will open against either No. 66 Anastasia Zakharova of Russia or No. 50 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, while Jovic will oppose either 97th-ranked fellow American Alycia Parks or qualifier Mary Stoiana of the United States, ranked No. 173, in her Charleston debut.

Keys, who won the 2019 Charleston title, is back for her 13th appearance at LTP Daniel Island. Besides her 2019 title run, she was a finalist in 2015, reached the semifinals in 2019, and made quarterfinal appearances in 2013 and 2023. Keys, who has accumulated a 21-11 career win-loss record on the green clay surface, opens against either No. 75 Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia or 115th-ranked qualifier Donna Vekic of Croatia.

“Charleston is one of my absolute favorite tournaments,” Keys said in October, when she committed to coming back to South Carolina. “The fans are amazing, the city is beautiful and the event always feels so welcoming. I’ve played here every year since I was a teenager. I’ve never missed it, and I never want to. Coming back for the 13th time just feels really special, like coming home.”

Bob Moran, President of Beemok Sports & Entertainment, who is also the Charleston Open tournament director, shares the same sentiment as Keys. “As a past champion and a lifelong friend of the tournament, she holds a special place in our history and in the hearts of our fans,”  he said.

Meanwhile, Jovic is playing in Charleston for the first time. Her arrival follows her breakthrough run at this year’s Australian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, and has seen the Californian born to Serbian parents make a rapid rise up the WTA rankings during the past year.

Jovic broke into the Top 100 and then rose to the Top 50 after capturing her first WTA Tour title in Guadalajara, Mexico last September. She advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Melbourne earlier this year, rising into the Top 20 for the first time in her career.

“I’m excited to be playing Charleston for the first time. It’s a tournament with a lot of tennis history, and I’m looking forward to competing there next month,” Jovic said in February after committing to play in Charleston. “I’ve been building my game this year, week after week, and I’m focused on bringing a high level of tennis into my clay season.”

Main draw play begins Monday with 10 singles and two doubles matches spread across three courts and continues through next Sunday’s title match, which will reward the winner with 500 WTA ranking points and first-prize money of $354,345.

Around the Charleston Open

• Qualifying draw play wrapped up on Sunday with six players advancing to the 48-player main draw after winning two matches over the weekend. They include: 19-year-old American Akashi Urhobo, ranked 273rd; No. 115 Donna Vekic of Croatia; No. 156 Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan; No. 169 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria; No. 162 Kayla Day of the United States; and No. 173 Mary Stoiana of the United States.

Also, two lucky losers moved into the main draw: No. 116 Daria Vidmanova of Czechia and No. 143 Elvira Kalieva of the United States. They replace World No. 6 Amanda Anisimova of the United States, who withdrew on Saturday after citing an injury suffered at the Miami Open that hasn’t had sufficient time to heal, and No. 50 Magda Linette of Poland, who withdrew with a viral illness.

• There are four wild cards in this year’s Charleston Open main draw: No. 113 Paula Badosa of Spain, No. 140 Bianca Andreescu of Canada, No. 554 Sloane Stephens of the United States and No. 571 Jennifer Brady of the United States. Stephens and Andreescu are both former US Open champions.

• The 16-team doubles draw took place on Saturday and the top seeds are Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia and Zhang Shuai of China, both very accomplished doubles players as their world rankings attest (Krunic is ranked eighth and Zhang 14th). However, it’s a bit of a makeshift team as Zhang’s original partner, Taylor Townsend of the United States, withdrew over the weekend because she was competing with Katerina Siniakova of Czechia for the Miami Open title on Sunday, which Townsend and Siniakova won to complete a Sunshine Double in doubles after capturing the Indian Wells crown earlier this month.

So, Zhang will team with Krunic, who normally plays with Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and won a title earlier this season together at Doha.

Sunday’s Charleston Open results

Monday’s Charleston Open order of play

By the numbers

The Credit One Charleston Open is committing $2.5 million to its players this year, including a record $2.3 million in on-site prize money and $200,000 towards player benefits programs. This total investment doubles the amount offered in 2025 and marks a landmark moment in the sport, making Charleston the first standalone WTA 500 event to proactively raise prize money. 

“Quotable …”

“This year’s field reflects the strength and depth of women’s tennis right now. …The level of competition in Charleston will be incredibly high. From established champions to emerging talent, fans can expect world-class play on the green clay of Credit One Stadium.”

– Bob Moran, President of Beemok Sports & Entertainment and the Charleston Open tournament director, earlier this month after the entry field was announced.

 

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