Just like on the ATP World Tour, the WTA is going to have three events going on this week in Stanford, Bastad, and Washington DC. In DC, the Citi Open will be kicking off Monday as one of two WTA International events along with the Swedish Open in Bastad. The field in DC is a strong one for a WTA International event with the final seeded player, Monica Niculescu, seeded eighth, is ranked 53 in the world.
Plenty of big names headline this event as top-seeded Samantha Stosur looks to go a couple steps further by winning the title while Sloane Stephens returns to the ground of her first-ever WTA title. Eugenie Bouchard, Kristina Mladenovic, Caroline Wozniacki, and Sabine Lisicki are all in this field as well in what looks to be a very heated (tennis and weather wise) tournament.
Stosur’s Quarter
Both Stosur and Wozniacki have the benefit of meeting qualifiers in their openers, matches both women should win barring any disasters. Victories would set up a match that once upon a time was a battle of two former top ten players but is now a battle between number 14 and number 60 in the world. The Aussie has been getting the better results of the two this year, but the Dane owns the current head-to-head 6-4 and won their lone match this year on grass.
Wild card Jessica Pegula faces off against Aleksandra Wozniak while Monica Niculescu will be in for a tough match against Christina McHale.
Quarterfinals: Samantha Stosur - Christina McHale
Semifinalist: Samantha Stosur
Puig’s Quarter
Hard-hitting Puerto Rican Monica Puig has really put it all together this year. Her current ranking stands at 33, which is a career-high for her. She’ll kick off her tournament against Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin and could face Shelby Rogers in the second round if she gets past Lauren Davis. Rogers went on a good run at the French Open this year and is very capable of pulling off an upset.
The real attraction in the first round from this quarter will be Eugenie Bouchard against Camila Giorgi. The Canadian has had a better year this year compared to last but still isn’t going deep into as many tournaments as she likes. The winner of this match has a good draw to get to at least the quarterfinals or even further. Puig is a very good player but is not a world beater, meaning this section is wide open.
Quarterfinals: Monica Puig - Eugenie Bouchard
Semifinalist: Eugenie Bouchard
Mladenovic’s Quarter
Kristina Mladenovic headlines this quarter but it would be quite a surprise to see her get out of this section without dropping a set. Yanina Wickmayer, the seventh seed, faces off against Madison Brengle in what could be a potential upset. Zhang Shuai, who famously won her first round match against Simona Halep at the Australian Open, otherwise she would have retired, meets a qualifier.
Sabine Lisicki meets Kristina Kucova while Mladenovic meets Samantha Crawford who went on a hot run to start her Australian summer with a run to the semifinals in Brisbane.
Quarterfinals: Zhang Shuai - Kristina Mladenovic
Semifinalist: Kristina Mladenovic
Stephens’ Quarter
The final quarter is led by defending champion Sloane Stephens. For the American, this draw could not get any easier, starting off with Japan’s Risa Ozaki and then meeting Naomi Broady or Irina Falconi in round two. Broady could pose a threat in the second round but the American’s consistency should prove too much should they meet.
Meanwhile in the top half of this quarter, Yulia Putintseva meets a qualifier and will play one of two wild cards in the second round. The draw is set up for a Putintseva-Stephens showdown in the quarterfinals. That matchup, should it happen, will be the American’s first true test in her title defense this year.
Quarterfinals: Yulia Putintseva - Sloane Stephens
Semifinalist: Sloane Stephens
Semifinals and Finals Prediction
Samantha Stosur d. Eugenie Bouchard
Sloane Stephens d. Kristina Mladenovic
Finals: Sloane Stephens d. Samantha Stosur