2024 Berlin Ladies Open Entry List with nine out of top 10 signed up including Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina and Gauff

Between June 15-23, the Berlin Ladies Open which was formerly known as bett1 Open and will see a stacked field playing in the middle week of the grass court season before Wimbledon takes place.

Nine out of the top 10 will be involved this time around with only Jelena Ostapenko who headlines Birmingham not signing up. Iga Swiatek will begin her grass court preparation in the German capital and will make her debut leading the world-class field.

While Sabalenka who in a Novak Djokovic type move snubbed the grass court season last year will return and play in Berlin. She is second seed ahead of Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula. Marketa Vondrousova, Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, Qinwen Zheng and Daria Kasatkina are all also signed up.

Jasmine Paolini, Victoria Azarenka and Marta Kostyuk are also on the Entry List for the tournament. As are Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber who will be wildcards after previously being announced. They will both also play the pre-cursor at Eastbourne taking in a pretty stacked grass court schedule.

It all begins the week after the French Open with Nottingham and s'Hertogenbosch taking place and is followed on by Berlin and Birmingham the week after as action shifts to Germany and in the case of the latter, further up the Midlands in the UK.

History wise, it was played in West Berlin until 1990 then Berlin from 1991 to 2008 following the reunification. It is one of the oldest tournament overall for women having been played in Hamburg priorly from 1894 - 1978. It was played until 2008 before it was reinstated in 2021. It was reannounced in 2020. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it didn't fully return until the week after. It is seen as a premier event and is a warm-up event for Wimbledon.

Past champions include Billie Jean KIng, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Martina Hingis, Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin, Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina. The current champion will not defend her crown. Petra Kvitova who is a multiple time Wimbledon champion unsurprisingly given her prowess on the surface won the 2023 edition. But she is pregnant and expecting her first child. As a result, there are only a few players who could add to their title hauls. Liudmila Samsonova and Ons Jabeur in particular with Belinda Bencic (also on maternity) losing in both finals. Donna Vekic lost in last year's final.

A tournament full of prowess and often a sure fire sign in a lot of cases where players will also continue their grass court season with Eastbourne or Bad Homburg after. Many will stay in Europe after the French Open. It also potentially offers a sort of glimpse at what the field could feasibly be for the Queen's Club Championships next year. Taking place the week before, it is also a WTA 500 and is sure to attract similar. Overall, it is a stacked field and a new champion could be crowned with the impetus heading into Wimbledon.