The 2023 Cleveland Open may be one of the most interesting WTA 250 tournaments of the season, and it's thanks to a star-studded draw.
Held from August 20th to 26th, in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States, the 2023 Cleveland Open, also called the Tennis in the Land, is the last WTA tournament held before the last Grand Slam of the season, the 2023 US Open.
The tournament has been held only twice in the past. The first champion was recently retired Anett Kontaveit, and last year, the event was won by Liudmila Samsonova. However, the Russian won't be defending her title this year.
This year, the top seed at the tournament will be Caroline Garcia, and the French player will face a difficult test already in the first round, as she'll take on a young Czech teenage prodigy in Linda Fruhvirtova.
There will also be some Grand Slam champions present at the tournament, and one of them will be Sloane Stephens. The American is in the top part of the draw, and she'll start against Julia Grabher from Austria in the first round of the tournament.
And while there are many great matches in the first-round of the tournament, all eyes will be on one clash, a generational battle, and probably even more than that. The 43-year-old Venus Williams will take on 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
The young Russian keeps proving her qualities, but she will face the most experienced player that she has ever faced in her tennis career. The seven-time Grand Slam champion played some solid tennis recently, and she will want to show the teenager that she's still a force to be reckoned with.
Apart from this first-round blockbuster, there will be many more interesting matches. The second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova will play against a qualifier in the first round, and if she wins the match, she will take on the winner of the match between Leylah Fernandez and Linda Noskova. To see the full draw for the 2023 Cleveland Open, be sure to check it out below.
1. Caroline Garcia (1) |
2. Linda Fruhvirtova |
3. Peyton Stearns |
4. Qualifier |
5. Sloane Stephens |
6. Julia Grabher |
7. Lin Zhu |
8. Anna Blinkova (8) |
9. Ekaterina Alexandrova (4) |
10. Patricia Maria Tig |
11. Emma Navarro |
12. Jasmine Paolini |
13. Qualifier |
14. Qualifier |
15. Irina-Camelia Begu |
16. Mayar Sherif (7) |
17. Elisabetta Cocciaretto (6) |
18. Lauren Davis |
19. Mirra Andreeva |
20. Venus Williams |
21. Katerina Siniakova |
22. Qualifier |
23. Qualifier |
24. Veronika Kudermetova (3) |
25. Anhelina Kalinina (5) |
26. Anna Bogdan |
27. Tatjana Maria |
28. Varvara Gracheva |
29. Linda Noskova |
30. Leylah Fernandez |
31. Qualifier |
32. Barbora Krejcikova (2) |