Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens has been awarded a main draw wild card for the San Diego Open WTA 500. The women’s professional tennis tournament is scheduled for Saturday, October 8 through Sunday, October 16 at Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 W Point Loma Blvd, San Diego, CA 92107.
The 29-year-old Stephens, a native of Plantation, Fla., won the US Open singles championship in 2017 and reached the French Open singles final in 2018. She holds seven career WTA singles titles and achieved a career-high No. 3 in the WTA singles rankings in July, 2018.
“I’m thrilled to receive a main draw wild card into the inaugural San Diego Open WTA 500 at Barnes Tennis Center. I remember playing there as a junior in the Girls’ 18s Nationals. It’s a great venue for a new WTA tournament,” said Stephens. “With such a strong player field, the competition will be very tough, but I’m looking forward to having a great week in San Diego.”
Stephens, currently ranked No. 50 in the world, captured her most recent WTA singles title in February this year in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Reigning US Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland headlines the Hologic WTA Tour event which will feature seven of the Top 10 and 16 of the Top 20 players in women’s professional tennis, including Americans Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Madison Keys, along with Paula Badosa and Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain.
To view the current tournament player field, click here.
Tickets for the inaugural San Diego Open WTA 500 can be purchased on the tournament website at: https://barnessdopen.com/tickets-2
The tournament will offer $757,000 in prize money and will have a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. A 24-player qualifying draw will also be played with six qualifiers advancing to the main draw. Qualifying rounds will take place the weekend of October 8-9. Main Draw matches begin Monday, October 10 and conclude with the singles and doubles final on Sunday, October 16.
The San Diego Open WTA 500 Tournament marks the return of the WTA to San Diego County, which has a rich history of hosting top-level women’s tennis events dating back to 1971. The most recent WTA tournament was played in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2015.
WTA Grand Slam champions who have won titles in San Diego include Billie Jean King, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Jennifer Capriati, Conchita Martínez, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Mary Pierce, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Samantha Stosur.
About Barnes Tennis Center – The Center is owned and operated by Youth Tennis San Diego. It was built in 1995 and completed in 1997. This 4.5 million dollar facility was made possible with generous public and private donations. The Center is named after our lead donor family – the “George E. Barnes Family Junior Tennis Center.” The Center is dedicated to the youth of San Diego. Children 18 and under have court priority over adults with advanced reservations! The capital campaign was spearheaded by Dr. Homer Peabody Jr. Youth Tennis San Diego gratefully acknowledges Dr. Peabody’s tremendous contribution to make our dream a reality.
About the WTA – Founded by Billie Jean King in 1973 on the principle of equal opportunity, the WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sports. The WTA is one of the world’s most recognizable and high-profile sports organizations, consisting of more than 1600 players representing approximately 87 nations, all competing to earn WTA rankings points and prestigious tournament titles. The Hologic WTA Tour is annually comprised of around 50 events and four Grand Slams, spanning six continents and nearly 30 countries and regions with a global audience of over 900 million. Further information on the WTA can be found at wtatennis.com.
About Southern California Tennis Association Foundation – Founded in 1986, the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and is the charitable arm of USTA Southern California. The Foundation’s mission is to change lives and build communities through tennis. Since 2020, the SCTA Foundation has had a community impact of giving over $600,000 in grants and scholarships to deserving youth, adults, organizations, facilities and programs to make tennis an equal opportunity sport, accessible to all, regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, or economic background. Visit us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. To learn more about the SCTA Foundation go to: www.sctafoundation.org.
