Dates, draws, prize money and everything you need to know

The Hologic WTA Tour moves to the clay next week at the Credit One Charleston Open and the Copa Colsanitsas in Bogota, Colombia. The WTA 500 event features a strong field once again, including World No.5 Jessica Pegula, defending champion Ons Jabeur, and Charleston’s own Emma Navarro.

Here’s what you need to know about Charleston:

When does the tournament start?

The Credit One Charleston Open is the first WTA 500 tournament of the clay season and the only clay-court WTA tournament in North America. The tournament is played on outdoor green clay (Har-Tru) at Live to Play Daniel Island, home of Credit One Stadium. The Dunlop Grand Prix Regular Duty ball will be used.

The tournament features a 48-player singles field (with 16 first-round byes) and a 16-team doubles field.

Main-draw play begins on Monday, April 1.

Charleston, South Carolina is on Eastern Daylight Time (GMT -4).

When are the finals?

Both singles and doubles finals will be played on Sunday April 7. The doubles final will begin at noon, followed by the singles final at 2:30 p.m.

Who are the defending champions?

Ons Jabeur captured the title last year, defeating defending champion Belinda Bencic 7-6(6), 6-4. The final was a rematch of the previous year’s final, which Bencic won 6–1, 5–7, 6–4.

In doubles, Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk defeated Giuliana Olmos and Ena Shibahara 0–6, 6–4, [14–12].

Who is playing?

The entry cut-off was based on the Hologic WTA Tour rankings on March, 4. Paula Badosa was the last direct entry at No.73. Wild cards were awarded to Beatriz Haddad Maia, Caroline Wozniacki, Shelby Rogers and Clervie Ngounoue.

For the full player field click here.

Projected Top 8 seeds:

1. Jessica Pegula
Ranking: No.5
Best Charleston result: Semifinalist (2023)
Previous tournament: Miami quarterfinal (l. Alexandrova)

2. Our Jabeur
Ranking: No.6
Best Charleston result: Champion (2023)
Previous tournament: Miami second round (l. Avanesyan)

3. Maria Sakkari
Ranking: No.8
Best Charleston result: Quarterfinal (2019)
Previous tournament: Miami quarterfinal (l. Rybakina)

4. Daria Kasatkina
Ranking: No.11
Best Charleston result: Champion (2017)
Previous tournament: Miami Round 3 (l. Cirstea)

5. Beatriz Haddad Maia
Ranking: No.13
Best Charleston result: First Round (2018)
Previous tournament: Miami Round 3 (l. Boulter)

6. Ekaterina Alexandrova
Ranking: No.16
Best Charleston result: Semifinal (2022)
Previous tournament: Miami semifinal (l. Collins)

7. Elina Svitolina
Ranking: No.17
Best Charleston result: Round of 16 (2014)
Previous tournament: Miami second round (l. Osaka)

8. Madison Keys
Ranking: No.18
Best Charleston result: Champion (2019)
Previous tournament: Miami Round of 16 (l. Rybakina)

In addition to the Top 8 seeds, the tournament will feature four major champions, with Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens, Sofia Kenin, and Wozniacki in the main draw. Three of the tour’s hot hands, No.20 Navarro, Dubai finalist Anna Kalinskaya and Miami finalist Danielle Collins, are also set to play.

Since the main-draw cut-off, the following players have withdrawn: Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Krejcikova, Marta Kostyuk, Yuan Yue, Diane Parry, Wang Yafan and Viktorija Golubic. They have been replaced by the main-draw alternates, including Taylor Townsend, Yulia Putintseva and Alize Cornet.

What does the draw look like?

What are the points and prize money on offer?

First round: 1 point/ $5,540
Second round: 32 points/ $6,940
Round of 16: 60 points/ $11,190
Quarterfinals: 108 points/ $22,146
Semifinals: 195 points/ $44,286
Finalist: 325 points/ $87,665
Champion: 500 points/ $142,000

How last year’s clay season played out

After three months of rolling through the hard courts of Australia, the Middle East, and America, the Hologic WTA Tour kicks off the clay season next week in Charleston and the WTA 250 tournament in Bogota, Colombia.

After a one-week break for national call-ups for Billie Jean King Cup, the tour will begin its march through the European clay. After tournaments in Stuttgart, Germany and Rouen, France, back-to-back two-week WTA 1000 events will be played in Madrid and Rome before the second Slam of the season gets underway at Roland Garros.

Here’s a look back at how the 2023 clay-court season played out:

Charleston (WTA 500): Ons Jabeur d. Belinda Bencic
Bogota (WTA 250): Tatjana Maria d. Peyton Stearns

Stuttgart (WTA 500): Iga Swiatek d. Aryna Sabalenka

Madrid (WTA 1000): Aryna Sabalenka d. Every Swiatek
Rome (WTA 1000): Elena Rybakina d. Anhelina Kalinina

Strasbourg (WTA 250): Elina Svitolina d. Anna Blinkova
Rabat (WTA 250): Lucia Bronzetti d. Julia Grabher

Roland Garros (Grand Slam): Iga Swiatek d. Karolina Muchova