PREVIEW NOTES: VOLVO CAR OPEN CHARLESTON, SC, USA | APRIL 1-7, 2019 | USD $823,000 PREMIER EVENT WTA Website: www.wtatennis.com | @WTA | facebook.com/wta Tournament Website: www.volvocaropen.com | @VolvoCarOpen | facebook.com/VolvoCarOpen WTA Communications: Chase Altieri ([email protected]), Teyva Sammet ([email protected]) SAP Tennis Analytics for Media is an online portal that provides real-time data and insights to media during every WTA event and across all devices. Please email [email protected] to request your individual login to grant access to SAP Tennis Analytics for Media. CHARLESTON – QUICK FACTS Main draw dates: Monday – Sunday, April 1-7, 2019 Singles Final: Sunday, April 1, NB 1:00pm Doubles Final: Sunday, April 1, 10:45am Venue: Family Circle Tennis Centre Status: WTA Premier Event Staging: Tournament’s 47th year Draw sizes: 56 singles / 16 doubles / 32 singles qualifying (8 qualifiers) Surface: Green Clay / Outdoors Tennis Ball: Dunlop Grand Prix All Surface Total Prize Money: USD $823,000 2018 Singles Final: [12] Kiki Bertens (NED) d. [5] Julia Goerges (GER) 6-2 6-1 2018 Doubles Final: K.Srebotnik/A.Kudryavtseva (CZE/RUS) d. [3] A.Klepac/M. Martinez Sanchez (SLO/ESP) 6-3 6-3 SINGLES USD $ RANK POINTS Winner 141,420 470 Runner-Up 75,120 305 Semifinalist 37,020 185 Quarterfinalist 19,031 100 Round of 16 9,860 55 Round of 32 5,050 30 Round of 64 2,595 1 MAIN DRAW QUICK-HITS Singles wildcards: Sabine Lisicki (GER), Emma Navarro (USA), Shelby Rogers (USA) Youngest singles player: Amanda Anisimova, 17 years old (August 31, 2001) Oldest singles player: Kaia Kanepi, 33 years old (June 10, 1985) Singles withdrawals: Bianca Andreescu (right shoulder), Ashleigh Barty, Irina-Camelia Begu (right knee), Daria Gavrilova (left foot), Camila Giorgi (right wrist), Hsieh Su-Wei (back), Ons Jabeur (right knee), Aleksandra Krunic (right arm), Bernarda Pera (illness), Anastasia Potapova, Yulia Putintseva (back), Lesia Tsurenko (right arm), Zheng Saisai (left shoulder) Main draw debutantes: Amanda Anisimova (USA), Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov (ESP), Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL), Danielle Collins (USA), Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER), Kaia Kanepi (EST), Irina Khromacheva (RUS), Allie Kiick (USA), Veronika Kudermetova (RUS), Elise Mertens (BEL), Emma Navarro (USA), Pauline Parmentier (FRA), Aryna Sabalenka (BLR), Tamara Zidansek (SLO) Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA 1 PREVIEW NOTES: VOLVO CAR OPEN CHARLESTON, SC, USA | APRIL 1-7, 2019 | USD $823,000 PREMIER EVENT TOURNAMENT TALKING POINTS Defending champion Kiki Bertens returns to South Carolina as No.2 seed and with a reputation as one of the tour’s finest clay courters, having won 21 of her past 26 matches on the surface Six other players in this year’s field have made the final, including No.1 seed Sloane Stephens (2016 champion), Madison Keys (2015 runner-up) and former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki (2011 champion) Danielle Collins, the No.11 seed and Australian Open semifinalist this January, has also made great strides in the past year. Having graduated from college in 2016, the American is approaching her 200th professional match (current record 123-75) One To Watch – Sofia Kenin has fallen in the first round on her two previous appearances at Charleston, however, after her flying start to 2019 she will be quietly confident of a longer stay this time around. In 2019, the 20-year-old has reached her first two WTA finals, picking up her maiden WTA title at Auckland in January, and posted 14 main draw win TOP 4 SEEDS’ TOURNAMENT HISTORY* PLAYER TOURNAMENT HISTORY W/L WIN % WON (1): 2016 (d. Vesnina in F) 6-5 .545 2r (3): 2013 (l. Mattek-Sands), 2014 (l. Svitolina), 2015 (l. [1] Sloane Stephens (USA) Barthel) 1r (2): 2011 (l. Shuai Peng), 2012 (l. Hampton) [2] Kiki Bertens (NED) WON (1): 2018 (d. Goerges in F) 8-2 .800 R16 (1): 2017 (l. Lucic-Baroni) 2r (1): 2014 (l. Errani) [3] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) Making tournament debut - - [4] Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) SF (1): 2018 (l. Goerges) 6-5 .545 QF (1): 2017 (l. Siegemund) 2r (1): 2009 (l. Bartoli) 1r (2): 2010 (l. Arvidsson), 2016 (l. Cepelova) *Main draw matches only PREVIOUS CHAMPIONS & RUNNERS-UP YEAR CHAMPION RUNNER-UP SCORE 2010 Samantha Stosur Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-3 2011 Caroline Wozniacki Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-3 2012 Serena Williams Lucie Safarova 6-0 6-1 2013 Serena Williams Jelena Jankovic 3-6 6-0 6-2 2014 Andrea Petkovic Jana Cepelova 7-5 6-2 2015 Angelique Kerber Madison Keys 6-2 4-6 7-5 2016 Sloane Stephens Elena Vesnina 7-6(4) 6-2 2017 Daria Kasatkina Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-1 2018 Kiki Bertens Julia Goerges 6-2 6-1 If highlighted denotes competing in 2019 Charleston main draw Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA 2 PREVIEW NOTES: VOLVO CAR OPEN CHARLESTON, SC, USA | APRIL 1-7, 2019 | USD $823,000 PREMIER EVENT COUNTRY BREAKDOWN A total of 25 countries are represented in the main draw, led by the United States with 12 players: Australia (1) Ajla Tomljanovic Belarus (1) Aryna Sabalenka Belgium (2) Ysaline Bonaventure, Elise Mertens Croatia (1) Petra Martic Czech Republic (1) Kristina Pliskova Denmark (1) Caroline Wozniacki Estonia (1) Kaia Kanepi France (2) Alizé Cornet, Pauline Parmentier Germany (6) Anna-Lena Friedsam, Julia Goerges, Sabine Lisicki, Tatjana Maria, Andrea Petkovic, Laura Siegemund, Greece (1) Maria Sakkari Hungary (1) Fanny Stollar Italy (1) Sara Errani Latvia (2) Jelena Ostapenko, Anastasija Sevastova Luxembourg (1) Mandy Minella Netherlands (1) Kiki Bertens Poland (1) Magda Linette Puerto Rico (1) Monica Puig Romania (1) Mihaela Buzarnescu Russia (4) Irina Khromacheva, Veronika Kudermetova, Evgeniya Rodina, Natalia Vikhlyantseva Spain (2) Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov, Sara Sorribes Tormo Slovakia (1) Anna Karolina Schmiedlova Slovenia (1) Tamara Zidansek Sweden (1) Johanna Larsson Switzerland (1) Belinda Bencic USA (12) Amanda Anisimova, Madison Brengle, Danielle Collins, Sofia Kenin, Madison Keys, Allie Kiick, Varvara Lepchenko, Emma Navarro, Jessica Pegula, Shelby Rogers, Sloane Stephens, Taylor Townsend Follow WTA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WTA Facebook: www.facebook.com/WTA YouTube: www.youtube.com/WTA 3.