Miami Open Starts with Women’s Qualifying 1st Round

A total of 48 players hit the courts aiming for a spot into the Main Draw

by Daniel Perisse

Miami Gardens, FL (March 18, 2023) – The 2023 Miami Open presented by Itaú kicks off tomorrow, March 19, with the first round of the Women’s Qualifying Draw. Forty-eight players, including some that were already ranked in the WTA top ten, will fight for the 12 available spots in the main draw.

Among the more experienced names in the draw is Italian Sara Errani. The 35-year-old player from Bologna is a former World No. 5 in Singles and No.1 in Doubles, and has won nine WTA Tour titles in singles. Her best run in Miami was in 2012, as a doubles finalist with Roberta Vinci, also from Italy. Errani will face 23-year-old Jodie Burrage, from Great Britain.

Another top ten from the past taking part in the qualifying draw is Vera Zvonareva. She was ranked World No. 2 in 2010 and has 12 singles titles on her tally. She is the current Women’s Doubles title holder here at Hard Rock Stadium, together with Laura Siegemund, from Germany. Currently ranked at No. 435 in the WTA, Zvonareva’s best run in singles was reaching the semifinals in 2008 and 2011. She plays 21-year-old German Eva Lys in the first round.

Siegemund is also in the draw. She plays No. 11 Diana Shnaider, who is currently a freshman at N.C. State. If she wins, she might have to face her doubles partner Zvonareva for a spot in the Singles Main Draw.

Seven American players are in the qualifying draw. The No. 2 seed is Cincinnati native Caty McNally, who has seven doubles titles on the tour – three of them with her friend Coco Gauff. Her first-round opponent is Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, who has won three Singles WTA Tour titles.

Also a former top-ten player (reached World No. 9 in 2018), Coco Vandeweghe is another American aiming to get into the 2023 Miami Open main draw. The 31-year-old from New York City, who has won a doubles title in the Magic City in 2018 with Australian Ashleigh Barty, faces Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.

Other US players in the draw are Peyton Stearns, winner of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Singles National Championship for Texas, Emma Navarro, who won this college title in 2021 playing for Virginia, Katie Volynets, Whitney Osuigwe and Katrina Scott.

The Women’s Qualifying first-round matches start at 11:00 and will be played on courts 1-7. Download the order of play for tomorrow and get your grounds pass tickets here.