Top Seed Pegula, Defending Champ Jabeur Anchor Credit One Charleston Open Singles Draw
Can 2023 Credit One Charleston Open champion Ons Jabeur make her third final in a row in the Lowcountry?
The No.2 seed will have a challenging path to do so, after the singles draw was made on Saturday (March 30) with help from local stars Emma Navarro and Shelby Rogers.
Jabeur is the No.2 seed and anchors the bottom half of the draw, with world No.5 Jessica Pegula the No.1 seed and at the top of the draw.
MORE: See the full singles draw
Neither star player has an easy first match: Pegula will face the winner of Amanda Anisimova versus Alize Cornet, while Jabeur gets either Paula Badosa or Danielle Collins.
No.4 seed Daria Kasatkina, the 2017 champion here, joins Pegula in the top half of the draw, while No.3 Maria Sakkari is in the bottom with Jabeur.
Here are the potential quarterfinal match-ups by seeds:
[1] Pegula (USA) vs. [6] Ekaterina Alexandrova
[4] Kasatkina vs. [8] Madison Keys (USA)
[5] Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) vs. [3] Sakkari (GRE)
[7] Elina Svitolina (UKR) vs. [2] Jabeur (TUN)
It’s a loaded singles draw, with 10 of the top 20, six former champions and four Grand Slam singles winners.
Seeded 10th after breaking into the world’s top 20 earlier this year, Navarro will receive a first-round bye and then face either a qualifier or Arantxa Rus. Rogers, a wild card, will take on a qualifier in her first match, the winner to meet 2021 champion Veronika Kudermetova.
Beyond Badosa-Collins and Anisimova-Cornet, there are a fistful of must-see first-round clashes. They include:
Taylor Townsend (USA) vs. Sofia Kenin (USA)
Caroline Dolehide (USA) vs. Kayla Day (USA)
Magda Linette (POL) vs. Petra Martic (CRO)
Sloane Stephens (USA) vs. Magdalena Frech (POL)
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
Jabeur is looking to become the first player to successfully defend her title since Serena Williams won back-to-back trophies here in 2012 and 2013. She won’t meet Belinda Bencic, the 2022 winner, for a third straight year in the final, with Bencic off the tour as she awaits the birth of her first child.
Should Jabeur get past her first hurdle, she could meet Stephens, the 2016 winner here, or No.14 seed Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up, in round three.
Keys, who won this title in 2019, is on a collision course with Navarro in round three, while former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka looms in round three for No.6 Alexandrova – the winner to potentially meet Pegula.
