Cluj-Napoca has been home for the Transylvania Open for just two seasons, but it has garnered a reputation as the best WTA 250 in the past year.
Now in its third edition, which will run from October 16th to 22nd, we are guaranteed a new champion. That is because last year's winner Anna Blinkova is extending her spell in Asia, while the inaugural champion Anett Kontaveit retired from professional tennis this season at the age of 27.
The tournament has received a big blow in its player participation. Caroline Garcia and Donna Vekic have withdrawn due to injuries, therefore the seeds will now shuffle a bit. Romania's Sorana Cirstea will now spearhead the 28-player field in her home tournament, and the draw for the event has been released.
Cirstea will start her campaign against the highly-talented Eva Lys. But the young German's recent retirement in Seoul leaves a major question mark on her fitness coming to Cluj-Napoca. Should the top seed advance, she will face one of Celine Naef or compatriot Jaqueline Cristian.
Still in the top half, Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi will play for just the second time since the US Open, in a match against Anna-Lena Friedsam. Kanepi returned to action for the first time in over a month at the 125K event in Rouen this week.
Third seed Greet Minnen will mark her debut appearance at the event by playing Ukraine's Daria Snigur. British No. 2 Jodie Burrage, who was selected in the four-woman squad to play at the Billie Jean King Cup Play-Offs next month, will face Ankita Raina. Burrage needed three sets to defeat the Indian in their sole career meeting in Warsaw this season.
In the bottom half, USA's Alycia Parks is seeded at number two. But Parks appears to be the most vulnerable of the top eight seeds at the tournament, as she is set for a daunting opening match against home player Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Fourth seed Rebeka Masarova will face German teenager Noma Noha Akugue, who made a name for herself at her home tournament in Hamburg a few months ago. That isn't the only intriguing match we should expect in this section of the draw.
We'll witness the second Tour-level match of 17-year-old Czech youngster Nikola Bartunkova, who hails from a low-key tennis club in Prague that nurtured the likes of Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova. The three-time ITF champion will play Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska.
Swiss lefty Jil Teichmann is chasing her first WTA main draw win since July. She opens up against Yanina Wickmayer. The Belgian's mileage puts her at a disadvantage in this match as she'll need to travel from Seoul at the weekend following her semifinal finish at the Korea Open.
2023 Transylvania Open Cluj WTA Draw:
| 1. Sorana Cirstea (1) |
| 2. Eva Lys |
| 3. Celine Naef |
| 4. Jaqueline Cristian |
| 5. Patricia Maria Tig |
| 6. Qualifier |
| 7. Qualifier |
| 8. Kateryna Baindl (7) |
| 9. Greet Minnen (3) |
| 10. Daria Snigur |
| 11. Anna-Lena Friedsam |
| 12. Kaia Kanepi |
| 13. Leolia Jeanjean |
| 14. Tamara Korpatsch |
| 15. Ankita Raina |
| 16. Jodie Burrage (8) |
| 17. Ana Bogdan (5) |
| 18. Viktoriya Tomova |
| 19. Nikola Bartunkova |
| 20. Dayana Yastremska |
| 21. Miriam Bulgaru |
| 22. Qualifier |
| 23. Noma Noha Akugue |
| 24. Rebeka Masarova (4) |
| 25. Yanina Wickmayer (6) |
| 26. Jil Teichmann |
| 27. Emiliana Arango |
| 28. Jessika Ponchet |
| 29. Anna Bondar |
| 30. Qualifier |
| 31. Elena-Gabriela Ruse |
| 32. Alycia Parks (2) |
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