The Charleston Open is due to take place between March 30 - April 5, 2026 and sees Jessica Pegula as defending champion in South Carolina.

It will be the 54th edition of the tournament and is a WTA 500 tournament on the WTA Tour. It will take place on green clay and is the only event on the clay court calendar to do so.

Pegula defeated Sofia Kenin in the final last year, and the top seed returns alongside a load of top Americans, including Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Iva Jovic, among others, with a top bill of Bianca Andreescu, Jennifer Brady and Paula Badosa as wildcards.

It takes place in the same week as Bogota on the WTA Tour as well as Houston, Marrakech and Bucharest on the ATP Tour before the action shifts towards Stuttgart and then Madrid.

Jessica Pegula - Yulia Starodubtseva 6-2, 6-2

The prize money breakdown is $2,300,000 in full for this year's tournament, which is more than double the $1,064,510 on offer a year ago. Pegula received $164,000 for winning the title twelve months ago.

Samuel Gill, Head Editor for TennisUpToDate.com sees Anisimova, Jovic and Pegula as the favourites.

For me Jessica Pegula is the standout this next week in Charleston. She is in even better form this year than she was last without the titles so I see her doing well here.

Also she went out earlier in Miami so has time to prepare. Same can be said though for Anisimova and Jovic who I expect to standout.

Anisimova has gone out early the past few tournaments and has done more business in memes than on court. But she has the game, as does Iva Jovic.

*** Jessica Pegula

** Amanda Anisimova, Iva Jovic

Lucas Michael, Editor for TennisUpToDate.com sees Pegula sealing the title.

Seven of the top 20 players in the world will be testing their luck on the green clay at Charleston with the hope of getting their clay swing off to the perfect start.

This tournament could be wide open if the top players do not find their A-game from the off, and that may not be the case if this occurs for Jessica Pegula. The American’s brace of quarterfinal defeats in the Sunshine double are her worst results since the Cincinnati Open, showcasing how good she has been in recent months. She also knows a thing or two about winning in Charleston, making her the obvious favourite.

Amanda Anisimova should never be ruled out. While I would pick Pegula to continue her imperious form over the two-time Grand Slam finalist, Anisimova will be a force to be reckoned with despite her under-par start to 2026 by the standards set in the second half of 2025.

More American involvement in the form of 2019 champion Madison Keys and Iva Jovic will be looking ahead to what they hope to be a title charge in the making. It would be good to see Keys back to her best after injury and inconsistency on court have blighted her progress since winning the Australian Open. I will also pinpoint Belinda Bencic as an obvious candidate. The Swiss seems to be getting back to her best, winning the title in 2022 before Ons Jabeur got her revenge at that stage in 2023.

The likes of Ekaterina Alexandrova, Diana Shnaider and Maria Sakkari could throw themselves into contention with a good showing, while players like Leylah Fernandez and Maya Joint desperately need to kickstart their season. For the title in Charleston, I am edging towards the number one seed, Pegula, regaining her title.

*** Jessica Pegula

** Iva Jovic, Belinda Bencic

* Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Maria Sakkari