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The inaugural edition of the 2022 San Diego Open will be held from October 10-16, with qualifying rounds taking place over the preceding weekend.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek leads a packed draw, which also features six of her fellow top 10 cohorts. Quite a few Grand Slam champions are in the mix as well, with Sloane Stephens, Garbine Muguruza, and Bianca Andreescu to name a few.
Anett Kontaveit, Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko were set to participate too but withdrew for various reasons. Despite their withdrawals, there's no dearth of competition here. Even the qualifying rounds are filled with players in the top 30, such as Liudmila Samsonova, Zhang Shuai and Qinwen Zheng.
This is one of the strongest line-ups for a WTA 500 tournament in a long time, so let's take a look at how the San Diego Open draw might unfold over the next few days:
Top half: Iga Swiatek aiming to continue her good run of form at the San Diego Open as well
Seeded Players: (1) Iga Swiatek, (4) Jessica Pegula, (6) Coco Gauff and (8) Daria Kasatkina.
Expected semifinal: Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula.
Dark Horse: Leylah Fernandez.
No other player has even come remotely close to matching Iga Swiatek's accomplishments this season. She dismantled her rivals with ease and after a brief lull in form following her triumph at Roland Garros, bounced back to win the US Open. The World No. 1 is currently in the semifinals of the Ostrava Open, where she'll take on Ekaterina Alexandrova on Saturday.
Swiatek, along with the other top four seeds, received a bye into the second round. She awaits the winner of the first-round clash between Elena Rybakina and Garbine Muguruza. Given the Spaniard's dire form this season, her odds of winning are quite slim.
Rybakina has also reached the last four in Ostrava and will be the favorite to win against the former World No. 1, but not against Swiatek. The Pole should defeat the reigning Wimbledon champion to make the quarterfinals. Coco Gauff will kick off her San Diego Open challenge against a qualifier, followed by a second-round contest against either Bianca Andreesu or Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Gauff is expected to win both of her matches, but her run is likely to come to an end against Swiatek in the quarterfinals. Daria Kasatkina and Leylah Fernandez are set to face off in the opening round as well. The winner is likely to face Madison Keys in the second round for a place in the last eight.
Sofia Kenin was drawn against Coco Vandeweghe in the first round and has an opportunity to earn a rare victory. Though she's unlikely to defeat Jessica Pegula in the second round after that. The American is a safe bet to reach the semifinals from here, defeating either Keys or Kasatkina in the quarterfinals to do so.
Bottom half: Paula Badosa, Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari aim to solidify their WTA Finals spots
Seeded players: (2) Paula Badosa, (3) Aryna Sabalenka, (5) Maria Sakkari and (7) Caroline Garcia.
Expected semifinal: Paula Badosa vs. Aryna Sabalenka.
Dark Horse: Sloane Stephens.
Paula Badosa's chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals have taken a huge beating after second-round losses at the US Open, Tokyo and Ostrava. She has to do well here to make the cut for the year-end championships. She's likely to meet Alison Riske in the second round and a win would send her into the quarterfinals.
Caroline Garcia and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins are set for an exciting first-round showdown at the San Diego Open. The winner of this clash will meet either Martina Trevisan or a qualifier in the second round, followed by Badosa in the last eight. The winner of the Garica-Collins match will be the favorite to make the semifinals from this section.
Aryna Sabalenka returns to action for the first time since her heartbreaking loss to Swiatek in the semifinals of the US Open. She'll begin her campaign against either Sloane Stephens or Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. While the American has been quite inconsistent, one can never predict when she'll have a good run.
Kudermetova, on the other hand, has been quite solid all year round. She'll take on Alize Cornet in the semifinals of the Jasmin Open in Monastir on Saturday, where she's currently competing. The Russian is likely to advance to the second round of the San Diego Open and could knock out Sabalenka en route to the quarterfinals as well.
Maria Sakkari and Karolina Pliskova will take on qualifiers in the first round of the San Diego Open before facing off against each other in the second round. Considering their recent form, either one can win to make the last eight, where Kudermetova is likely to await them, or even lose to the qualifiers in the first round itself.
Semifinal predictions:
Iga Swiatek def. Jessica Pegula.
Veronika Kudermetova def. Danielle Collins.
Prediction for the final: Iga Swiatek def. Veronika Kudermetova.
