Charleston Open 411: Dates, who's playing, prize money and more

As the calendar flips from March to April, the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz schedule flips from the hard court to the clay.

And the start of the Clay-Court swing kicks off in Charleston, with the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open. 

The largest women's clay-court tournament in North America, the Credit One Charleston Open dates all the way back to 1973 -- when it was called the Family Circle Cup, and played on Hilton Head Island -- and has earned WTA 500 Tournament of the Year honors for four straight years.

It's one of the favorite stops on tour for many players, and also serves as an important warm-up tournament for Madrid, Rome and the French Open.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2026 Credit One Charleston Open, from important dates and notable players to rankings points and prize money.

When does the tournament start, and when will each round be played?

The qualifying tournament kicks off on Saturday, March 28, and first-round action will begin on Monday, March 30.

The tournament will run through Sunday, April 5, with the singles and doubles finals. The doubles final will be played first, at 12 p.m. ET, and the singles final will follow that, not before 2:30 p.m.

Below are the schedules for singles and doubles play.

Singles schedule

Qualifying: March 28 and March 29
First round: March 30 and March 31
Second round: March 31 and April 1
Third round: April 2
Quarterfinals: April 3
Semifinals: April 4
Final: April 5

Doubles schedule

First round: March 30, March 31 and April 1
Quarterfinals: April 1 and April 2
Semifinals: April 3 and April 4
Final: April 5

How big is the draw, and who are the top players in the field?

The Credit One Charleston Open has a 48-player singles draw, including 38 direct entries, six qualifiers and four wild cards.

Defending champion Jessica Pegula headlines the field, and she'll be joined by fellow Top 10 player Amanda Anisimova.

Other Top 20 players in the draw include Ekaterina Alexandrova, 2022 champion Belinda Bencic, Iva Jovic, 2019 champion Madison Keys, Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider.

Former Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin also received direct entry, as did former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Miami Open quarterfinalist Hailey Baptiste.

The wild cards add plenty of star power, too. 2016 Charleston champion Sloane Stephens got one, and the other three went to 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 2021 Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady and former World No. 2 Paula Badosa.

The draw will be revealed on Saturday, March 28 at 3 p.m. ET The top 16 seeds will receive byes into the second round.

Withdrawals: Emma Navarro, Jelena Ostapenko, Maya Joint, Xinyu Wang, Cristina Bucsa, Varvara Gracheva, Daria Kasatkina, Beatriz Haddad Maia

Main-draw additions: Dalma Galfi, Ajla Tomljanovic, Anastasia Zakharova, Taylor Townsend, Renata Zarazua, Alycia Parks, Katie Volynets, Lulu Sun

To see the full player list, click here.

Who are the defending champions?

In her 11th time playing the Credit One Charleston Open, dating back to 2011, Pegula finally got over the finish line in 2025. After back-to-back semifinal runs, the World No. 5 overcame defending champion Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals, Alexandrova in the semifinals and Kenin in the final.

After taking the first set from Kenin 6-3, Pegula fell behind 5-1 in the second. But in a stunning comeback, she took the next six games to claim the first -- and still-only -- clay-court title of her career.

Pegula became the 10th American to win the Charleston title, joining Rosie Casals, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Stephens, Keys and Collins.

The reigning doubles champions are Ostapenko and Erin Routliffe. They defeated Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk 6-4, 6-2 in the final.

Routliffe will play with Brady this year, and Krawczyk will pair with Caty McNally.

Ostapenko was initially slated to partner with Kristina Mladenovic, but she withdrew from the tournament. Dolehide is also not in this year's field.

What are the rankings points and prize money at stake?

History will be made at the Credit One Charleston Open this year. The tournament has voluntarily doubled its prize money for 2026, increasing its total financial package to $2.5 million. In doing so, the Charleston Open became the first standalone WTA 500 event to proactively offer equal prize money, in line with what is required for an ATP 500 event. 

Of the $2.5 million, $2.3 million will go toward players' on-site prize money and $200,000 will be contributed to the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association (WTBA), which offers key services to WTA players.

"Women’s tennis is delivering at a very high level right now, from the quality of competition to the engagement from fans, and this investment reflects that," said Charleston Open owner Ben Navarro. "Offering equal prize money is about respecting the players and the work they put in, and aligning the tournament with the value of the game."

Here's a full breakdown of the prize money and rankings point at stake in Charleston.

Champion: $354,345 | 500 rankings points
Finalist: $218,225 | 325 rankings points
Semifinalists: $110,370 | 195 rankings points
Quarterfinalists: $55,200 | 108 rankings points
Round of 16: $27,870 | 60 rankings points
Round of 32: $17,230 | 32 rankings points
Round of 48: $13,830 | 1 ranking point

The doubles champions will earn $117,320 and 500 rankings points.