ORDER OF PLAY -- all courts start at 11:00 a.m.
GRANDSTAND
Ekaterina ALEXANDROVA (RUS) vs. [9] Elena RYBAKINA (KAZ)
Not Before 1:00 pm
[13] Maria SAKKARI (GRE) vs. Cori GAUFF (USA)
Following 1 ATP match, Not Before 5:00 pm
[WC] Venus WILLIAMS (USA) vs. [16] Dayana YASTREMSKA (UKR)
COURT 17
Following 2 ATP matches
[15] Donna VEKIC (CRO) vs. Victoria AZARENKA (BLR)
Following 1 ATP match, Not Before 7:00 pm
[11] Alison RISKE (USA) vs. Amanda ANISIMOVA (USA)
COURT 10
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT) vs. Kristina MLADENOVIC (FRA)
COURT 7
Heather WATSON (GBR) vs. Bernarda PERA (USA)
Veronika KUDERMETOVA (RUS) vs. Ajla TOMLJANOVIC (AUS)
Alizé CORNET (FRA) vs. [WC] Catherine MCNALLY (USA)
Karolina MUCHOVA (CZE) vs. [Q] Ann LI (USA)
COURT 9
Jennifer BRADY (USA) / Caroline DOLEHIDE (USA) vs. Madison KEYS (USA) / Sloane STEPHENS (USA)
Asia MUHAMMAD (USA) / Taylor TOWNSEND (USA) vs. [4] Bethanie MATTEK-SANDS (USA) / ZHANG Shuai (CHN)
Kaitlyn CHRISTIAN (USA) / Giuliana OLMOS (MEX) vs. [2] Nicole MELICHAR (USA) / XU Yifan (CHN)
COURT 15
Viktoria KUZMOVA (SVK) / Iga SWIATEK (POL) vs. Lyudmyla KICHENOK (UKR) / Nadiia KICHENOK (UKR)
Sharon FICHMAN (CAN) / Darija JURAK (CRO) vs. [8] Lucie HRADECKA (CZE) / Andreja KLEPAC (SLO)
[5] Shuko AOYAMA (JPN) / Ena SHIBAHARA (JPN) vs. Nao HIBINO (JPN) / Makoto NINOMIYA (JPN)
COURT 8
[3] Kveta PESCHKE (CZE) / Demi SCHUURS (NED) vs. Oksana KALASHNIKOVA (GEO) / Alla KUDRYAVTSEVA (RUS)
Ellen PEREZ (AUS) / Storm SANDERS (AUS) vs. [7] Anna-Lena FRIEDSAM (GER) / Katerina SINIAKOVA (CZE)
Arina RODIONOVA (AUS) / Sabrina SANTAMARIA (USA) vs. Alexa GUARACHI (CHI) / Desirae KRAWCZYK (USA)
"I'm super happy to be back!" 😊@mariasakkari talks about her time at home and how she trained in Greece 🇬🇷#CInCyTENNIS pic.twitter.com/UApHw7YDkz
— wta (@WTA) August 21, 2020
MATCH POINTS
Former World No.1 Venus Williams will face No.16 seed Dayana Yastremska in the opening round of the Western & Southern Open on Saturday. The event usually takes place at its regular location in Cincinnati, but this year has been moved to a combined "bubble" with the upcoming US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.
40-year-old Williams is aiming for her 50th career WTA singles title, and if she were to triumph in this event, it would be her first Western & Southern Open singles trophy. Williams has an 11-6 career win-loss record at the event, with her best showing being a run to the semifinals in 2012. It will be the first meeting between Williams and Yastremska.
Williams is the oldest player in the field; the youngest is 16-year-old Coco Gauff, who will face No.13 seed Maria Sakkari in their first meeting. Gauff is coming off her breakthrough 2019 season where she won her first WTA singles title at Linz, reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, and made the third round of the US Open. Gauff reached the semifinals last week in Lexington.
hi @CincyTennis 👋🏾 pic.twitter.com/O1HBcQwMLy
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) August 20, 2020
Victoria Azarenka won the Western & Southern Open title in 2013. The Belarusian emerged triumphant in a down-to-the-wire final that year, edging Serena Williams in a final-set tiebreak for the crown. Last week, former World No.1 Azarenka fell to Venus Williams in a blockbuster first-round encounter in Lexington.
Azarenka has only played two matches this season, and is still seeking her first match-win of the year. She will take on No.15 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia, and Vekic has won both of their previous meetings, which both came on hardcourt last year -- including in the second round of the 2019 Western & Southern Open.
Head to Head
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No.9 seed Elena Rybakina and Ekaterina Alexandrova will square off in a match between two players who had excellent starts to 2020. Rybakina has a stellar 21-4 win-loss record so far this season, winning the title in Hobart, as well as finalist showings in Shenzhen, St. Petersburg, and Dubai.
Alexandrova, though, was the person to beat Rybakina in the Shenzhen final, which is their only prior encounter. Alexandrova's title in Shenzhen was her first-ever WTA singles crown, and the Russian has built a 12-5 win-loss record overall this year.
No.11 seed Alison Riske and Amanda Anisimova will face off in an all-American affair, in their first meeting. Both had Grand Slam breakthroughs in 2019: Riske made her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon, while Anisimova went all the way to the Roland Garros semifinals.
