Draw Preview: Bencic, Jabeur Could Create Repeat Final as Pegula Tops Credit One Charleston Open Field
The 56-player singles field features five former Charleston champs, three Grand Slam winners and four Top 10 players. We break down the draw here.
Could we see a repeat of the 2022 Credit One Charleston Open final this year?
Defending champ Belinda Bencic and runner-up Ons Jabeur – who produced a spellbinding championship match 51 weeks ago – were drawn into the opposite halves of the 2023 Credit One Charleston Open singles draw.
Bencic, the 2020 Olympic gold-medalist, is slated on the top half along with No. 1 seed and world No.3 Jessica Pegula, who formerly trained on site here in Daniel Island.
A Tunisian national hero, Jabeur anchors the bottom half of the draw as the No. 2 seed.
2017 winner Daria Kasatkina sits on that half of the draw with two-time major finalist Jabeur. Veteran Victoria Azarenka is a potential quarterfinal foe for Ons, with Vika making her return to Charleston for the first time in 13 years.
The potential final eight is a mouth-watering lineup:
[1] Pegula (USA) vs. [5] Veronika Kudermetova, the 2021 winner
[4] Bencic (SUI) vs [7] Ekaterina Alexandrova
[8] Magda Linette (POL) vs [3] Kasatkina
[2] Jabeur (TUN) vs [6] Azarenka
“It’s a really tough field here,” said American Sofia Kenin, one of three former Grand Slam champions in the draw. “Everyone is playing really well, so you could play anyone [and it] would be tough.”
Kenin opens against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the first round, which is one of several must-see clashes on offer in the opening round.
Most notably among those is an all-American battle between Mt. Pleasant native Shelby Rogers and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins.
Other names to watch out for in Charleston: No. 12 seed Paula Badosa and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who could meet in the second round, as well as Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who is playing her first event back since giving birth to her first child in October of 2022.
She meets a tough task in Yulia Putintseva.
Those matches all feature on the top half with Pegula and Bencic, while former champs Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens join Jabeur, Kasatkina and Azarenka on the bottom.
Keys, who won this title in 2019, meets Charleston native Emma Navarro in round one, while Stephens, the 2016 winner, gets a qualifier.
The top eight seeds have received byes in the 56-player field.
“This is a special town, a special city,” said American Caty McNally, one of 15 U.S. players in the field. “Coming out to the tennis – even for qualifying this weekend it’s packed. That’s great for the players. It’s great to be here.”
McNally opens against big-hitting German Jule Niemeier.
Players in this article
