Women's tennis returns to the Netherlands as the 2024 Libema Open marks the start of the grass-court season.
The Libema Open is classified as a WTA 250 tournament and will run from June 10th to 16th with a handful of top-ranked stars in this year's field. It will be a preparatory tournament for Wimbledon, and the entry list has been revealed.
For the past two years, no player could hold a candle to Ekaterina Alexandrova. The hard-hitting Russian is the two-time defending champion. She is on course for a place in history books in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch if she can win an unprecedented three-peat.
Alexandrova will return for the fifth time at this tournament as the third seed. However, the entry list is spearheaded by World No. 5 Jessica Pegula. The American is the only Top 10 player in the field, and this will be her first visit to Rosmalen in nearly a decade.
Liudmila Samsonova is the second seed, while another high-flying American, Emma Navarro, will be the fourth seed. The initial sign-up list also includes Veronika Kudermetova, who contested last year's final.
Elise Mertens returns to the tournament for the first time since 2022, while Croatia's Donna Vekic is set for her debut. China's Yue Yuan has triumphed at the WTA 250 level this season and can showcase her repertoire on grass.
Canada's Bianca Andreescu is expected to play her first WTA tournament of the season in Rabat, but the Libema Open will be her first on grass. She enters with a special ranking of No. 64. Diana Shnaider has only played two grass-court matches in her professional career but is on the entry list.
The same applies to Egypt's Mayar Sherif, whose lack of surface experience is evident with just five matches under her belt. The entry list for the 2024 Libema Open can be seen below.
| Seed | Player | Entry Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jessica Pegula | 5 |
| 2 | Liudmila Samsonova | 17 |
| 3 | Ekaterina Alexandrova | 18 |
| 4 | Emma Navarro | 22 |
| 5 | Veronika Kudermetova | 25 |
| 6 | Elise Mertens | 30 |
| 7 | Donna Vekic | 37 |
| 8 | Yue Yuan | 38 |
| Marie Bouzkova | 39 | |
| Anna Blinkova | 46 | |
| Arantxa Rus | 49 | |
| Magda Linette | 51 | |
| Diana Shnaider | 62 | |
| Bianca Andreescu | 64 | |
| Oceane Dodin | 73 | |
| Tamara Korpatsch | 75 | |
| Greet Minnen | 76 | |
| Bernarda Pera | 77 | |
| Clara Tauson | 78 | |
| Mayar Sherif | 80 | |
| Zhuoxuan Bai | 90 |