Tennis
players
Jessica Pegula and
Ons Jabeur have confirmed their participation in the
WTA 500 Charleston Open, which will take place on the clay courts of Daniel
Island in North Carolina from March 30 to April 7. The tournament will start
immediately after the Miami Open and marks the beginning of the clay season.
Jabeur, the Tunisian player, is the defending champion, having defeated
Belinda Bencic in the final with a score of 7-6, 6-4. This victory served as
revenge for the 2022 final when the same players faced each other, but Bencic
emerged victorious in a thrilling match that ended 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in favor of
the Swiss player.
26-years-old
Belinda Bencic, had confirmed her presence in the tournament in September 2023,
but a few weeks ago, she announced that she is pregnant. As a result, she will
not be participating in the tournament and is presumed to be absent for the
entire 2024 season. Despite this, the tournament is already taking shape with a
star-studded main draw, featuring two other former champions: Madison Keys
(2019) and Sloane Stephens (2016), in addition to world No. 9 Maria Sakkari.
"We
have an incredible field of tennis champions already committed to play in
Charleston next year and ticket sales and demand for 2024 continue to
outperform previous records,” said Bob Moran, Tournament Director of the Credit
One Charleston Open
This is one
of the tournaments that traditionally kicks off the clay season and has been
played since the beginning of the Open Era in 1973. The Charleston Open has
Chris Evert as its all-time winner, having claimed the trophy 8 times between
1974 and 1985.
Other
multi-time champions in Charleston include Martina Navratilova (4 titles),
Steffi Graf (4 titles), Serena Williams (3 titles), Tracy Austin (2 titles),
Gabriela Sabatini (2 titles), Justine Henin (2 titles), and Martina Hingis (2
titles).