As the calendar flips from March to April, the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz schedule flips from the laborious court docket to the clay.
And the beginning of the Clay-Court swing kicks off in Charleston, with the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open.
The largest ladies’s clay-court event in North America, the Credit One Charleston Open dates all the best way again to 1973 — when it was referred to as the Family Circle Cup, and performed on Hilton Head Island — and has earned WTA 500 Tournament of the Year honors for 4 straight years.
It’s one of many favourite stops on tour for a lot of gamers, and additionally serves as an vital warm-up event for Madrid, Rome and the French Open.
Here’s every part that you must know concerning the 2026 Credit One Charleston Open, from vital dates and notable gamers to rankings factors and prize money.
When does the event begin, and when will every spherical be performed?
The qualifying event kicks off on Saturday, March 28, and first-round motion will start on Monday, March 30.
The event will run by way of Sunday, April 5, with the singles and doubles finals. The doubles last shall be performed first, at 12 p.m. ET, and the singles last will observe that, not earlier than 2:30 p.m.
Below are the schedules for singles and doubles play.
Singles schedule
Qualifying: March 28 and March 29
First spherical: March 30 and March 31
Second spherical: March 31 and April 1
Third spherical: April 2
Quarterfinals: April 3
Semifinals: April 4
Final: April 5
Doubles schedule
First spherical: March 30, March 31 and April 1
Quarterfinals: April 1 and April 2
Semifinals: April 3 and April 4
Final: April 5
How huge is the draw, and who’re the highest gamers within the subject?
The Credit One Charleston Open has a 48-player singles draw, together with 38 direct entries, six qualifiers and 4 wild playing cards.
Defending champion and World No. 5 Jessica Pegula headlines the sector. Other Top 20 gamers within the draw embody Ekaterina Alexandrova, 2022 champion Belinda Bencic, Iva Jovic, 2019 champion Madison Keys, Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider.
Former Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin additionally obtained direct entry, as did former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Miami Open quarterfinalist Hailey Baptiste.
The wild playing cards add loads of star energy, too. 2016 Charleston champion Sloane Stephens obtained one, and the opposite three went to 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, 2021 Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady and former World No. 2 Paula Badosa.
World No. 6 Amanda Anisimova was initially within the subject, however she withdrew after revealing that she suffered an harm eventually week’s Miami Open.
The draw shall be revealed on Saturday, March 28 at 3 p.m. ET The prime 16 seeds will obtain byes into the second spherical.
Withdrawals: Amanda Anisimova, Emma Navarro, Jelena Ostapenko, Maya Joint, Xinyu Wang, Cristina Bucsa, Varvara Gracheva, Daria Kasatkina, Beatriz Haddad Maia
Main-draw additions: Dalma Galfi, Ajla Tomljanovic, Anastasia Zakharova, Taylor Townsend, Renata Zarazua, Alycia Parks, Katie Volynets, Lulu Sun
To see the complete participant listing, click here.
Who are the defending champions?
In her eleventh time taking part in the Credit One Charleston Open, relationship again to 2011, Pegula lastly obtained over the end line in 2025. After back-to-back semifinal runs, the World No. 5 overcame defending champion Danielle Collins within the quarterfinals, Alexandrova within the semifinals and Kenin within the last.
After taking the primary set from Kenin 6-3, Pegula fell behind 5-1 within the second. But in a shocking comeback, she took the subsequent six video games to say the primary — and still-only — clay-court title of her profession.
Pegula turned the tenth American to win the Charleston title, becoming a member of Rosie Casals, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Stephens, Keys and Collins.
The reigning doubles champions are Ostapenko and Erin Routliffe. They defeated Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk 6-4, 6-2 within the last.
Routliffe will play with Brady this yr, and Krawczyk will pair with Caty McNally.
Ostapenko was initially slated to accomplice with Kristina Mladenovic, however she withdrew from the event. Dolehide can also be not on this yr’s subject.
What are the rankings factors and prize money at stake?
History shall be made on the Credit One Charleston Open this yr. The event has voluntarily doubled its prize money for 2026, growing its complete monetary package deal to $2.5 million. In doing so, the Charleston Open turned the primary standalone WTA 500 occasion to proactively supply equal prize money, consistent with what’s required for an ATP 500 occasion.
Of the $2.5 million, $2.3 million will go towards gamers’ on-site prize money and $200,000 shall be contributed to the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association (WTBA), which gives key companies to WTA gamers.
“Women’s tennis is delivering at a very high level right now, from the quality of competition to the engagement from fans, and this investment reflects that,” stated Charleston Open proprietor Ben Navarro. “Offering equal prize money is about respecting the players and the work they put in, and aligning the tournament with the value of the game.”
Here’s a full breakdown of the prize money and rankings level at stake in Charleston.
Champion: $354,345 | 500 rankings factors
Finalist: $218,225 | 325 rankings factors
Semifinalists: $110,370 | 195 rankings factors
Quarterfinalists: $55,200 | 108 rankings factors
Round of 16: $27,870 | 60 rankings factors
Round of 32: $17,230 | 32 rankings factors
Round of 48: $13,830 | 1 rating level
The doubles champions will earn $117,320 and 500 rankings factors.
