- Top Seeds: Karolina Pliskova, Sofia Kenin, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka
- Defending champion: Madison Keys
- British interest: Johanna Konta, Heather Watson
- CLICK our featured players for stats from TennisAbstract
NEW YORK, USA – Former champion Karolina Pliskova occupies the top spot as some key players give the US a swerve, and the others start to embrace the bubble.
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Tournament Fast Facts
| Level | WTA Premier |
| Surface | Hard (O) |
| Singles Draw | 64 |
| Doubles Draw | 32 |
| Prize Money | $1,950,079 |
| Tournament Website | |
| Top seeds | [1] Karolina Pliskova
[2] Sofia Kenin [3] Serena Williams [4] Naomi Osaka [5] Aryna Sabalenka [6] Petra Kvitova [7] Madison Keys [8] Johanna Konta |
| Top Half | [1] Karolina Pliskova
[14] Elise Mertens [11] Alison Riske [5] Aryna Sabalenka [4/WC] Naomi Osaka [16] Dayana Yastremska [12] Anett Kontaveit [6] Petra Kvitova |
| Bottom Half | [8] Johanna Konta
[10] Marketa Vondrousova [13] Maria Sakkari [3] Serena Williams [7] Madison Keys [9] Elena Rybakina [15] Donna Vekic [2] Sofia Kenin |
Western & Southern Open Cincinnati Draw & Results
| Tournament Website |
| Order of Play |
| Singles |
| Doubles |
| Qualifying |
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[1] Karolina Pliskova
Former champion Pliskova is one of the players who kept herself busy in various exhibitions during lockdown after a strong start to the year with the Brisbane title tapered off.
In the restart, she could come unstuck against Aryna Sabalenka who seems to have the measure of her.
Pliskova’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Veronika Kudermetova | H2H: Pliskova leads 1-0
- R3: Elise Mertens [14] | H2H: Pliskova leads 1-0
- QF: Aryna Sabalenka [5] | H2H: Sabalenka leads 2-0
- SF: Naomi Osaka [4/WC] | H2H: Pliskova leads 3-2
- F: Sofia Kenin [2] | H2H: Pliskova leads 4-0
[2] Sofia Kenin
Kenin arrives in New York with plenty of domestic tennis under her belt, having last played in Lyon, after of course starting the year winning her maiden Slam.
It is a tough draw for her restart as she could potentially face defending champion Madison Keys just three rounds in.
Kenin’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Alize Cornet | H2H: Kenin leads 2-1
- R3: Donna Vekic [15] | First Meeting
- QF: Madison Keys [7] | H2H: Keys leads 2-1
- SF: Serena Williams [3] | H2H: Kenin leads 1-0
- F: Karolina Pliskova [1] | H2H: Pliskova leads 4-0
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[3] Serena Williams
Williams got off to a a hard-working start in Lexington, coming from a set down twice in her opening rounds before being unseated by Shelby Rogers in the quarter-final.
She has a solid shot at a more meaningful run in this WTA Premier, but if Kenin is feeling confident and in the type of fearless form that saw her defeat Williams at the French Open, will it leave Williams a little under-cooked going into the US Open?
Williams’ Path to the final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Alison Van Uytvanck | H2H: Williams leads 1-0
- R3: Maria Sakkari [13] | First Meeting (excludes Hopman Cup)
- QF: Johanna Konta [8] | H2H tied at 1-1
- SF: Sofia Kenin [2] | H2H: Kenin leads 1-0
- F: Karolina Pliskova [1] | H2H tied at 2-2
[4/WC] Naomi Osaka
With a Fed Cup loss in February, Osaka is arguably the least match-fit player coming into the tournament with the smattering of domestic and exhibition matches that have been played since lockdown started to ease, globally.
That being said, a strong run could be on the cards for Osaka, if she can shake off the rust quickly in her first-time meeting openers.
Osaka’s Path to the Final (Ranking/Seeding)
- R1: BYE
- R2: Karolina Muchova | First Meeting
- R3: Dayana Yastremska [16] | First Meeting
- QF: Petra Kvitova [6] | H2H: Osaka leads 2-0
- SF: Karolina Pliskova [1] | H2H: Pliskova leads 3-2
- F: Sofia Kenin [2] H2H tied at 2-2 (includes ITF)
The Western & Southern Open takes place between 22-28 August (BST -5 hours)
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