PREVIEW | 2023 San Diego Open as WTA action continues post US Open including Sakkari, Jabeur, Garcia among others

The San Diego Open also known as Cymbiotika San Diego Open is due to take place between September 11-16, 2023. Here is our tournament preview for this WTA 500 taking place in California over the next week.

Ons Jabeur, Caroline Garcia, Maria Sakkari, Barbora Krejcikova are among the top seeds in a stacked WTA 500 field. Many of those players with a point to prove after a downturn in form.

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Iga Swiatek was the defending champion, but will not return this year with the tournament suffering from being shifted to post-US Open. This is a time many will take a break before heading to Asia and Guadalajara for a WTA 1000 in the coming weeks. But the winner will claim a surfboard in one of the more interesting trophies on the tour.

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Jabeur, Garcia, and Sakkari out to prove a point

The leading trio instead are still big names, but with Coco Gauff out too due to winning the US Open, it has suffered slightly for a WTA 500.

But it is more of a point proving week for three players with Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia in action. The former less so reaching the latter stages of the US Open and losing to Qinwen Zheng.

But it is more the mental baggage than losing for the top seed in San Diego who could face Alycia Parks or Anastasia Potapova. It was duly noted that since Wimbledon, she has not looked the same with the heartbreak of two Grand Slam final losses at SW19 seemingly taking its toll.

Sakkari and Garcia though have very much adopted the nearly woman tag, but without the Grand Slam final losses.

After losing in the final to Coco Gauff in Washington, she lost early in Montreal, Cincinnati to nightmare opponent Karolina Muchova, and even more shockingly to Rebeka Masarova in New York. In tears post-match, Sakkari has gone from consistency to the very opposite, and in a side of the draw in San Diego which features mostly qualifiers, it provides either a banana skin or a chance to start afresh.

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The same can be said for Caroline Garcia with the Frenchwoman falling victim to the curse of the WTA Finals which Garbine Muguruza had. Albeit the plummet down the rankings and form hasn't been so stark, she like the Spaniard will not defend her title.

After good early grass court form, Garcia lost in the third round to Marie Bouzkova at Wimbledon in a game she looked to be ascending before the shift of courts and time under the roof threw her off. It seemed to throw her form off too.

She lost consecutively first round in Washington, Montreal, and Cincinnati before winning two matches in Cleveland including against eventual US Open star, Peyton Stearns. But as ever, it doesn't count for much when albeit an in-form Yafan Wang comes to town and takes away semi-final points and adds more to a sense of crisis.

She has had a family bereavement though prior to that game in particular, so has now headed back onto the tour after some time away and will look to kick start her season likely against Sloane Stephens or Elise Mertens.

Pick of the other matches

Other top ties to start the week in San Diego include Sofia Kenin facing Veronika Kudermetova, Beatriz Haddad Maia will take on Leylah Fernandez, Barbora Krejcikova could face Anhelina Kalinina or Karolina Pliskova.

Marta Kostyuk faces Magda Linette, the victor faces the winner of Fernandez-BHM. Sofia Kenin faces Veronika Kudermetova also. A good week in San Diego all things considered.

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