No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen has a first-round bye at the WTA 500 tournament in Charleston and then could possibly face former world No. 3 and two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Maria Sakkari in her clay season opener.
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After taking part in the Sunshine Double and reaching back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami, the Chinese tennis star stayed in the United States to kick off her clay swing in Charleston. For the 22-year-old, this will be her second appearance at the tournament. In her tournament debut in 2022, she beat Sloane Stephens in the first round before losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Zheng maybe didn't have an impressive Charleston debut last year but there are reasons to believe that it is a tournament where she definitely could enjoy success. Since Charleston's green clay is probably the fastest clay surface on the Tour - and the world No. 9 enjoys such conditions - the Chinese could easily start her clay season with a big result.
Sakkari has been a tricky rival for Zheng so far
Since Sakkari is currently ranked at No. 51 in the world and unseeded, she doesn't have a first-round bye at the tournament this year. However, she plays against wildcard Marina Stakusic and should handle the job in her opener.
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If Zheng and Sakkari meet in Charleston, it will be their fourth meeting. In the past, the Greek claimed wins in their 2022 Australian Open and 2023 Doha meetings but the Chinese got her revenge in their last meeting in Zhengzhou in late 2023.
While the Greek leads their head-to-head, a lot has changed since their last meeting as Zheng is now a Grand Slam finalist - a top-10 player - and an Olympic gold medalist. In case they meet, there is no doubt that the Chinese will be the favorite.
