Held from July 31st to August 6th, the 2023 Prague Open is probably the most prestigious WTA tournament held in the Czech Republic, but this year also the most controversial.
As a WTA 250 tournament in the capital of the Czech Republic, the event managed to put together quite a solid entry list, but that started falling apart when the projected top seed Barbora Krejcikova withdrew from the tournament.
The tournament suffered yet another blow when the country prevented Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing, something that also happened in Poland only a week ago ahead of the 2023 Poland Open in Warsaw.
So the draw for the tournament had to be made without the third-highest-ranked Czech player in the WTA Rankings, but also without Russian and Belarusian players that wanted to compete in the Czech capital.
That means that the top seed for the tournament is Marie Bouzkova, who will play against Jaqueline Cristian from Romania in the first round of the competition. The third-seeded Shuai Zhang from China will meet compatriot Yue Yuan, while another home player, Linda Noskova, will play against one of the qualifiers.
The second-seeded Lin Zhu has been drawn against Yanina Wickmayer, former world no. 12, who secured a Top 100 return thanks to a solid showing in Warsaw. But one of the most interesting first-round matches will see two players from the same country, with the same surname but only a bit different first name, face off as the seventh-seeded Xinyu Wang will take on Xiyu Wang. To see the full draw for the 2023 Prague Open, be sure to check it out below.
2023 Prague Open WTA Draw:
| 1. Marie Bouzkova (1) |
| 2. Jaqueline Cristian |
| 3. Barbora Palicova |
| 4. Qualifier |
| 5. Heather Watson |
| 6. Jule Niemeier |
| 7. Qualifier |
| 8. Kateryna Baindl (8) |
| 9. Shuai Zhang (3) |
| 10. Yue Yuan |
| 11. Qualifier |
| 12. Tereza Martincova |
| 13. Qualifier |
| 14. Sara Errani |
| 15. Xiyu Wang |
| 16. Xinyu Wang (7) |
| 17. Tatjana Maria (5) |
| 18. Clara Tauson |
| 19. Patricia Maria Tig |
| 20. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova |
| 21. Barbora Strycova |
| 22. Qualifier |
| 23. Qualifier |
| 24. Linda Noskova (4) |
| 25. Alize Cornet (6) |
| 26. Lucie Havlickova |
| 27. Lucrezia Stefanini |
| 28. Kaia Kanepi |
| 29. Qualifier |
| 30. Viktoriya Tomova |
| 31. Yanina Wickmayer |
| 32. Lin Zhu (2) |
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