Eastbourne WTA 500: Top seeds drawn against qualifiers to open Rothesay International

James Richardson 25 Jun 2023 11:22 AM

The top two seeds for the WTA 500 Rothesay International at Eastbourne, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and French No 1 Caroline Garcia, will open the 32-player main draw with clashes against qualifiers.

Rybakina is turning out on the WTA Tour for the first time since her Round of 32 exit from the French Open.

The outing in Eastbourne will give great insight into her form going into the defence of her Wimbledon crown.

Eastbourne also serves as the first outing since the French Open for world No 4 Garcia.

Should Garcia get beyond her opening clash with a qualifier, she will either face another qualifier or Soran Cirstea in the Round of 16.

Should seeding hold in the bottom quarter of the draw, Garcia will face a tantalizing quarter-final meeting with Birmingham Classic semi-finalist Maria Sakkari.

Rybakina could face a massive test of her grass court credentials in the last eight if seeding holds in the top quarter as well.

Eighth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia has a handy record on grass and is the projected opponent for the Rothesay International quarter-finals for Rybakina.

Haddad Maia has been handed a very tough section though opening her tournament against Czech Marie Bouzkova while she might also face opposition from the Czech Republic in the round of 16.

Provided Barbora Krejcikova can get beyond home hope and British No 1 Katie Boulter.

Jessica Pegula is the third seed, but the American has been handed a tough opening assignment in the form of China’s Qinwen Zheng in what will be the first meeting between the two players.

Compatriot Shelby Rogers or a qualifier will await Pegula if she can battle past Zheng and into the Round of 16.

Pegula will be set for a quarter-final clash against another countrywoman and her frequent doubles partner Coco Gauff, if seeding holds in her quarter of the Eastbourne draw.

Gauff has a tough section to get through to reach that stage as she opens against another American in Bernarda Pera.

Should the fifth seed down Pera she will have to take on either Russian No 1 Daria Kasatkina or a qualifier in the Round of 16.

The top seed in the next quarter of the draw won’t be the semi-final favourite for her section.

No 4 seed Ons Jabeur finds herself in the same section as red-hot Petra Kvitova who will take some stopping at Eastbourne.

Jabeur will open her tournament against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic but she could be forgiven for eyeing up a tough quarterfinal clash with Kvitova.

If Jabeur gets beyond Vondrousova she will take on either Camila Giorgi or Anastasia Potopova in the last 16.

Kvitova will have to prove she is the real deal from the get-go as she starts against mercurial former Grand Slam winner Jelena Ostapenko who also enjoys playing on grass.

Harriet Dart of Great Britain or China’s Shuai Zhang will be next up for the victor of that huge first round clash at Eastbourne.