Charleston’s Emma Navarro and defending champion Jessica Pegula, the world’s No. 5-ranked player, highlight the preliminary player field for the Credit One Charleston Open.
The Charleston Open, North America’s largest women’s-only professional tennis tournament, is March 28-April 5 on Daniel Island. The preliminary main draw is highlighted by 10 top 25 players, 11 Americans, three Grand Slam singles champions and four former Charleston champions. As the kick-off event of the clay season on the WTA Tour, the tournament was recently named the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
Headlining the field are Pegula; world No. 6, two-time 2025 Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anisimova; world two-time Charleston semifinalist Ekaterina Alexandrova (No. 11); 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist and 2022 Charleston champion Belinda Bencic (No. 12); 2025 Australian Open champion and 2019 Charleston champion Madison Keys (No. 15); 2025 Guadalajara champion and 18-year-old sensation Iva Jovic (No. 18); 2025 Monterrey champion Diana Shnaider (No. 20); and Merida champion Navarro (No. 25).
The 2026 lineup also reflects the strength of American tennis, with 11 U.S. players entered in the main draw, including Pegula, Anisimova, Keys, Sofia Kenin and Navarro, as well as Jovic, Peyton Stearns, Hailey Baptiste, McCartney Kessler, Caty McNally and Ashlyn Krueger.
Former champions Keys, Pegula, Bencic and Daria Kasatkina (2017) return to compete for another Charleston title.