The WTA Tour makes its first pitstop of the season in the African continent following the release of the 2024 Morocco Open draw.
It's the final warm-up tournament before Roland Garros, and some lower-ranked women will have the chance to vie for a trophy at the 250 level in Rabat. This event will run simultaneously with the Strasbourg Open from May 19th to 25th.
There were major changes to the field before the draw ceremony. Former Grand Slam champions Simona Halep and Bianca Andreescu withdrew. The Canadian was expected to play her first tournament since August but did not travel to Rabat.
The 32-player singles field is packed. Five players who are ranked in the world's Top 50 are seeded. There are no byes in this tournament, So the top seed, Yue Yuan, will play a qualifier in her opening match.
Should the Chinese player progress unscathed, she will play Taylor Townsend or Kamilla Rakhimova. Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto will play home wild card Yasmine Kabbaj.
Third seed Sara Sorribes Tormo is one of the title favorites. She opens against Harriet Dart. A popcorn first-round match pits former French Open semifinalist Nadia Podorosoka against the experienced German veteran Tatjana Maria.
An all-African clash will see Egypt's Mayar Sherif square off against Morrocco's very own Aya El Aouni. Fifth seed Arantxa Rus, meanwhile, will take on Maria Carle in another intriguing clash between two clay-court specialists.
China's Xiyu Wang and USA's Peyton Stearns are on a collision course. Both players will face qualifiers to begin with. Former champion Martina Trevisan will lock horns with Nao Hibino, with the winner potentially facing defending champion Lucia Bronzetti.
The second seed at the event is Anna Blinkova. The Russian leads the bottom half of the draw and has a tough opening match against Laura Siegemund. The winner will play either Maria Camila Osorio or Elina Avanesyan. The full draw for the 2024 Morocco Open can be seen below.
2024 Morocco Open Rabat WTA Draw:
| Player | Opponent |
|---|---|
| Yue Yuan (1) | Qualifier |
| Kamilla Rakhimova | Taylor Townsend |
| Kayla Day | Zhuoxuan Bai |
| Yasmine Kabbaj | Elisabetta Cocciaretto (7) |
| Sara Sorribes Tormo (3) | Harriet Dart |
| Nadia Podoroska | Tatjana Maria |
| Aya El Aouni | Mayar Sherif |
| Maria Lourdes Carle | Arantxa Rus (5) |
| Xiyu Wang (6) | Qualifier |
| Peyton Stearns | Qualifier |
| Martina Trevisan | Nao Hibino |
| Malak El Allami | Lucia Bronzetti (4) |
| Lin Zhu (8) | Yafan Wang |
| Qualifier | Viktoriya Tomova |
| Camila Osorio | Elina Avanesyan |
| Laura Siegemund | Anna Blinkova (2) |
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