Main draw Monday: Local hope Rogers, Wimbledon champ Kvitova christen new Stadium
Shelby Rogers (USA) poses with fans at the Credit One Charleston Open. (Photo: Alice Keeney/Credit One Charleston Open)
Having grown up in Mount Pleasant and served as a ball kid at the Credit One Charleston Open, Shelby Rogers has made plenty of memories on Daniel Island over the years.
But 2022 could be the best yet: She enters her home event having reached a career-high ranking of No. 36 in the world earlier this year, advancing to the second week at a major in three of her last six appearances.
In her eighth outing in the Charleston main draw, Rogers has never entered the event ranked higher – currently No.48 – and will ring in the first night session in the new Credit One Stadium against big-hitting Estonian Kaia Kanepi.
They have split their two meetings at any pro level, while Rogers won their most recent match on the WTA Tour last year in Dubai.
After two days of qualifying over the weekend, the 56-player singles draw is set, while 16 teams are competing in the doubles. The top eight singles seeds receive byes into round two.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will play Monday afternoon, the No. 11 seed taking on Magdalena Frech of Poland in the fourth match of the day session.
The winners of the Rogers and Kvitova matches will meet in the second round.
In all, Monday sees 15 matches, 14 of them being singles. The one doubles match will be a can’t-miss: Top singles seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur team up to take on American Jessica Pegula and Alexa Guarachi of Chile not before 3pm on Court 3.
Every match has intrigue around it on Monday, including the all-American battle between qualifier Sachia Vickery and No. 15 seed Amanda Anisimova, which is third on Stadium. It’s their first-ever meeting.
The Stadium day starts with 16-year-old wild card Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic, one of the up-and-coming teenagers on tour, taking on Ana Konjuh.
Konjuh was a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2016 at age 18, but is continuing to make a comeback to tour following an elbow injury that kept her out for over two years.
France’s Alize Cornet, seeded 12, meets Alycia Parks of the U.S. next.
Around the grounds, 2017 Wimbledon junior winner Claire Liu of the U.S. meets tour veteran Heather Watson of Great Britain in the second match on the Althea Gibson Club Court, while No. 16 seed Zhang Shuai meets American qualifier Francesca Di Lorenzo in the last match of the day on that court.
