WTA Washington: Preview and Outright Bets
by Bradley Gibbs | by Bradley Gibbs
Big names missing from the draw
As mentioned above, the Washington Open, which is now a WTA 500 event having been upgraded ahead of the 2023 renewal, is a tournament that has been won by some very good players in recent years, with both Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff winning since 2019. However, there’s a distinct lack of big names in the draw this week.
Recent Wimbledon winner and six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will not feature, nor will world number one Aryna Sabalenka. World number two Coco Gauff won’t be looking for a second win at this tournament, while teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva is another notable absentee, meaning that only one of the top five is set to feature.
Jessica Pegula, as the world number four, is the highest ranked player in the draw ahead of this event, making her the top seed. In fact, Pegula, who has won this tournament not once but twice, is the only top-ten player set to compete.
Given that she’s easily the highest-ranked player involved, Pegula could (and probably should) be the pre-tournament favorite, but she’s currently down as the second favorite, narrowly behind Elena Rybakina in the outright betting.
Now ranked at 12th in the world, Rybakina is building back up after a 2024 season plagued by disruptions. The Kazakh player was once ranked as high as third, while she’s a Grand Slam champion having won Wimbledon back in 2022. She’s no stranger to success on hard courts either, winning in both Brisbane and Abu Dhabi last year, before reaching the final in Miami. She’s also won at Indian Wells in the US, so it’s not difficult to see why she’s fancied here.
An opportunity for those below the upper reaches?
To be honest, this week must be seen as a big opportunity by those players that aren’t quite in the top ten. With so many top players missing, several players must fancy themselves to go deep. Someone like Emma Raducanu, who had the misfortune of facing Aryna Sabalenka early on at Wimbledon will surely be expecting to play well this week, while the same can be said for Clara Tauson, who is now into the top 20 and who beat Rybakina at Wimbledon recently.
There is a real lack of top-20 players in the field in Washington this week, with only five top-20 players due to feature. Therefore, the likes of Marta Kostyuk, Sofia Kenin and Maga Linette, all of whom rank inside the top 30, should be hopeful.
Is the time now for Navarro?
I didn’t mention her above, and that’s because I’m saving the best for last so to speak. Emma Navarro is the third-highest ranked player in the draw this week, and I think she can do very, very well.
Now up to 11th in the rankings, Navarro is absolutely not a player to overlook ahead of an event of this ilk. The 24-year-old will be playing at the Washington Open for the first time in her career, but that’s nothing to worry about if you ask me.
She typically plays her best tennis on this surface, reaching the semi-finals at the Aussie Open earlier in the year, while she’s a previous US Open semi-finalist too. She also won a WTA 500 hard-court event in Mexico as recently as March, while she certainly wasn’t out of form at Wimbledon recently, beating some very decent players, before losing to world number five Mirra Andreeva.
Navarro is also on the better side of the draw, with both Rybakina and Pegula on the other side, so if she brings her best game this week, she really should be eying up a spot in Sunday’s final. This bodes well given that Navarro’s only recent losses have come against either Jessica Pegula, who she won’t have to face until the final, or players not at this tournament.
Sure, with the likes of Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina in this tournament, it’s not going to be easy for anyone to go all the way, but Navarro has shown that she’s capable of competing in tournaments of this nature, and with the likes of Sabalenka, Swiatek, Andreeva, Keys and Gauff all missing in Washington, this looks like a great opportunity for the world number 11 to lay down a serious challenge.
Our WTA Washington Pick: Emma Navarro to win the tournament.
