Sabalenka’s return highlights Washington 500 draw

World No.3 Aryna Sabalenka’s return to action highlights the main draw of the first Hologic WTA Tour event of the summer hard-court season: the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open.

Sabalenka has not played in four weeks since retiring in the quarterfinals of the ecotrans Ladies Open in Berlin against eventual finalist Anna Kalinskaya due to a shoulder injury on June 22 — the first mid-match retirement of Sabalenka’s career. She also withdrew from Wimbledon due to an injury on the morning when her expected first-round match was to be played.

Washington, D.C.: Scores | Draws | Order of play

After a first-round bye, the top seed will face either American Katie Volynets or a qualifier in the second round. Sabalenka could face No.6 seed and two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka, who opens against a qualifier, in the quarterfinals. The other match in the quarter features former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova against Wang Yafan.

Sabalenka is joined among the Top 4 seeds by No.2 Daria Kasatkina, No.3 Liudmila Samsonova and No.4 Ons Jabeur, all of whom also received a first-round bye. Notably, Samsonova — the 2022 champion in the U.S. capital — will face the winner of the first-round match between 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and former World No.2 Paula Badosa in the draw’s bottom half.

Kasatkina will face the winner of the first-round match between Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko and American Caroline Dolehide, while Jabeur — Sabalenka’s projected semifinal opponent — will face an American, either Shelby Rogers or 2021 US Open junior champion Robin Montgomery, who is a Washington, D.C. native. Jabeur and Montgomery just played at Wimbledon in a second-round match won by the Tunisian, 7-5, 6-1.

Other notable first-round matches see No.8 seed Elise Mertens play former US Open winner Emma Raducanu, and No.9 seed Anastasia Potapova face American Taylor Townsend. Townsend was elevated into the main draw shortly after it was made, as Kalinskaya — the projected No.5 seed — withdrew from the field due to injury.

Main-draw play at Rock Creek Park begins on July 29.