The Western & Southern singles draws were made Friday, determining the path that
will lead two players to the trophy next Sunday. There are intriguing matchups
throughout both draws, with a battle of moms grabbing the spotlight on the WTA
side while a meeting of two past champions grabs the headlines from the ATP’s
opening round.
A pair of WTA stars who had babies in October will meet in the opening round of the
Western & Southern Open. Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki will be playing
her second event since coming out of retirement and will face Wimbledon
semifinalist Elina Svitolina in the opening round. Wozniacki had her second child –
a son, James – in October, just days after Svitolina welcomed her first – a daughter,
Skai.
Iga Swiatek, the No. 1 player in the world and Western & Southern Open top seed,
will face either American wild card Danielle Collins or Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova after receiving a first-round bye. Second seed Aryna Sabalenka
awaits the winner of a first-round match between Magda Linette and a qualifier.
Defending champion Caroline Garcia also has a bye before playing either former
US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
As the men’s top seed, World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will receive a first-round bye,
then will face either 2013 Western & Southern Open finalist John Isner or a
qualifier in his first match while No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic, a two-time
tournament champion, awaits either Toronto semifinalist Alejandro Davidovich
Fokina or Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Borna Coric will begin his title defense
against American Sebastian Korda.
Notable first round ATP matches include a battle of past Western & Southern Open
champions as No. 16 seed Alexander Zverev, the 2021 winner, faces 2017
champion Grigor Dimitrov, as well as a battle of Americans between 2022 NCAA
singles champion Ben Shelton taking on Wimbledon quarterfinalist Chris
Eubanks.
A pair of Cincinnati natives are in the singles draws. Peyton Stearns, an NCAA
champion at the University of Texas, will face No. 11 seed Daria Kasatkina in the
opening round while JJ Wolf, an All-American at Ohio State, is set to face Australian
Alex de Minaur.
Main draw singles and doubles play for the ATP will begin Sunday while the WTA
main draws will begin Monday.
With Center Court nearly sold out, reserved Grandstand Court seating is on sale now
on wsopen.com for the day sessions on Saturday, Aug. 12 (Session 1), Monday, Aug.
14 (Session 4) and Tuesday, Aug. 15 (Session 6).
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