From wild cards to hometown heroes, Charleston sets the tone for clay season

It’s transition time. After those fast hard courts of Indian Wells and Miami, it’s open season on clay.

It all starts Monday on the green dirt at the Credit One Charleston Open, the year’s first Hologic WTA Tour 500 event on clay — and voted last year’s WTA 500 Tournament of the Year.

It’s a loaded field, featuring four Top 10 players — No. 4 Jessica Pegula, No. 5 Madison Keys, No. 9 Zheng Qinwen and No. 10 Emma Navarro — and nine of the Top 20. The 16 seeded players received first-round byes.

Here are some of the leading storylines we’re following:

Breaking down the Top 5 seeds

No. 1 Jessica Pegula: She’s coming in hot off the Miami Open final, where she reached the final before falling to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Believe it or not, this is Pegula’s 11^th run at Charleston, where she started out as a qualifying wild card ranked No. 528 in 2011. Her best efforts came in the past two years, reaching the semifinals.

No. 2 Madison Keys: It’s been a breakout year for Keys, who won her first major at the Australian Open, beating Sabalenka in the final. Her 16-match win streak came to an end at the hands of Sabalenka in the BNP Paribas semifinals. Keys has a rich history in Charleston; this is her 12^th outing and she was the 2019 champion. Her record on these pale green courts is 20-10.

No. 3 Zheng Qinwen: She’s only played here once, retiring from her second match in 2022, but Zheng’s game travels well on clay. She reached the quarterfinals last year in Rome and the third round at Roland Garros. After a slow start, the reigning Olympic singles champion has rallied with quarterfinal berths at Indian Wells (losing to Iga Swiatek) and Miami (Sabalenka).

No. 4 Emma Navarro: She was a top-ranked junior when she played her first main draw as a wild card in 2019. Five years later, thanks to a record of 54-24, she was voted the 2024 WTA Most Improved Player of the Year. Navarro made the Round of 16 at Roland Garros, beating Sara Errani and Keys before losing to Sabalenka.

Yeah. 5 Daria Kasatkina: She loves this tournament, and it will mark her first time playing under the Australian flag. Kasatkina won the title here in 2017 and was a finalist a year ago. Her overall record is a sporty 18-4.

Collins eyes a repeat

Collins caught fire last year, winning all six matches at the Miami Open and then another half-dozen in Charleston — for the two biggest titles of her career. She made a seamless transition to clay, defeating Paula Badosa, Ons Jabeur, Sloane Stephens, Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari and, in the final, Kasatkina. Only the match against Jabeur went the distance. Collins would go on to produce a winning streak of 16 matches and re-enter the Top 10. She’s 5-4 so far this season.

Potential quarterfinals

No. 1 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 7 Danielle Collins

No. 3 Zheng Qinwen vs. No. 6 Diana Shnaider

No. 4 Emma Navarro vs. No. 8 amanda anisimova

No. 2 Madison Keys vs. No. 5 Daria Kasatkina

A qualified success

Big shoutout to 40-year-old Bethanie Mattek Sands and 36-year-old Zhang Shuai, who played a second-round qualifying match on Sunday. Both are ranked among the Top 25 in doubles, but it was Zhang who advanced to the main draw with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory in just under two hours. Zhang is ranked No. 172 and Mattek-Sands bidding for her first main draw berth in seven months — and first 500 (Grampians Trophy, Melbourne) in more than four years.

Also into the main draw: No. 231 Iryna Shymanovich was a 7-6 (6), 6-4 winner over No. 281 Elvina Kalieva and plays wild card Heather Watson. Meanwhile, Katherine Sebov, a 26-year-old Canadian ranked No. 330, defeated Kyoka Okamura 6-4, 6-2 and will meet Katie Volynets.

Possible (delightful) second-round matches

No. 4 Zheng Qinwen vs. Maria Sakkari

No. 15 Ashlyn Krueger vs. Katie Volynets

No. 17 Belinda Bencic vs. Sofia Kenin