WTA Draw released for 2021 Western & Southern Open including Osaka, Barty and Andreescu

The Western and Southern Open in Cinncinati brings us the return of Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty to the courts.

The event will run from August 16th till August 22nd and will feature the return of Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty to the courts. Neither player has played since the Tokyo Olympics and both will be looking to get some needed playing time in.

As seed both have a 1st round BYE with Barty facing a qualifier in R2. In round 3 however, she will most likely face Victoria Azarenka who played some very good tennis in Montreal. It's a measured challenge for Barty who won Miami earlier in the year.

Naomi Osaka got an even harder draw than Barty as the Japanese player will most likely face Coco Gauff in the 2nd round. The American player played very well in Montreal reaching the quarterfinal and that will be a very tough challenge for Osaka who lacks playing time.

Another interesting 1st round matchup is between Belinda Bencic and Marketa Vondrousova. They last played a few weeks ago in Tokyo contesting the final of the Olympic Games. Bencic won that match-winning the gold medal.

Iga Swiatek will also make her return to tennis in Cincinnati also getting a very hard draw. For her, it will be either Ons Jabeur or Anett KOntaveit in the 2nd round.