WTA Charleston Open: Tournament Preview & Outright Picks
Recent Charleston Winners Back in Action
There will be plenty of recent Charleston Open winners in action in South Carolina this week, which means that we’ll see lots of players who will likely fancy themselves to go deep into the tournament.
Danielle Collins got the job done last year, putting a US name on the trophy for the first time since Madison Keys reigned supreme in 2019. Both of those former winners are due to compete this week.
In 2022, Belinda Bencic, who has been in resurgent form in 2025, came out on top, making the final in 2023 too. The Swiss player is another former Charleston Open champion to be vying for glory this week and is certainly to keep in mind for your tennis predictions of the week.
2021 winner Veronika Kudermetova is back for another bite of the cherry as is Daria Kasatkina, who not only lifted the trophy back in 2017, but also reached the final last year.
All in all, we have five of the last eight winners of this tournament in action this week, so there’s a good chance that the engravers will be putting a familiar name on the trophy.
Some Big Names Missing
Coming off of a tightly contested Miami Open, you wont see some of the biggest names in WTA at this tournament. That being said, there are plenty of recent winners are in the field but there are some glaringly obvious absentees, especially in terms of high-ranking players.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka won’t be in action as she'll take some much needed time off to relish in her Miami Open victory where she proved once again that she is the WTA player to beat at the moment. Sabelenka took down Pegula in the final in a convincing 2-0 fashion as the latter looked to follow up her victory in Ausitn with another home win in 2025.
Another notable absence is world number two Iga Swiatek. Knocked out of the Miami Open in a stunning loss to unranked prodigy Alexandra Eala, Swiatek will use this time off to recoup and refocus for the next big WTA event.
Coco Gauff is currently ranked as the third best WTA player on the planet, but she’s also out this week, while teenage sensation and world number six Mirra Andreeva is another star player to not be playing.
Pegula and Keys lead a strong US charge
We may not be seeing the likes of Iga Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva and Aryan Sabalenka in Charleston this week, but the US charge is a strong one, that’s for sure.
The two highest-ranked players in the tournament are both US representatives. Ranked at fourth in the world, Jessica Pegula will be the highest ranking player involved. Grand Slam finalist Pegula is also the number one seed. Pegula performed well at the Miami Open but was no match for Sabalenka in the finals. After a hard-fought first set, the Belarussian pulled away and closed out the tournament with a 2-0 victory. This WTA 500 event is the perfect chance for Pegula to prove that she deserves her spot in the top 5.
Seeded number two is Madison Keys, who as the world number five, is the second highest ranking player due to get down to business in Charleston this week. Keys is also the early favorite in the betting, available at odds of +300 to win the tournament.
Not far behind at a general price of +325 is Pegula, who will surely be popular amongst outright bettors ahead of this event.
Finding Value
OK, so where’s the value play? Are either of the top two seeds worthy of betting support? Or should we perhaps look further afield?
Here’s how the outright betting is shaping up before a ball has been hit:
- Madison Keys +300
- Jessica Pegula +325
- Qinwen Zheng +500
- Amanda Anisimova +700
- Danielle Collins +850
- Belinda Bencic +1100
- Diana Shnaider +1600
- Emma Navarro +1800
- All other players +2000 or bigger
Madison Keys is probably the right favorite. She’s a top-five player, and she’s won this tournament before, reaching the final back in 2015 as well. However, there are simply other players that appeal more in terms of value.
One of those is Belinda Bencic, who may just be a little generously priced at +1100. Like Keys, Bencic has won this tournament before, coming out on top back in 2022, beating Ons Jabeur in the final. She also reached the final in 2023, so we know she’s clearly capable of tussling on the Charleston clay courts.
I’d also argue that she’s on the right side of the draw, where she wouldn’t have to meet Pegula until the quarter-finals, while she could only come up against the likes of Keys, Collins, Zheng, Shnaider, Anisimova, Kasatkina or Navarro in the final. This shouldn’t be ignored.
At the end of the day, we know what Bencic is capable of when she’s playing well, while she’s played very well at this tournament not once but twice in the last few years. Factor in that she’s beaten some top players in recent weeks, including Coco Gauff, and she rates as a value bet at odds of +1100.
Our WTA Charleston Open prediction: Belinda Bencic to win the tournament at odds of +1100 at FanDuel!
