Chicago Fall Tennis Classic: Women’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

The inaugural WTA 500 Chicago Fall Tennis Classic will be held from September 27. Most of the top tennis players from the WTA tour will feature in the event including Elina Svitolina, Garbine Muguruza and Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.

Tournament Details:

• Tournament: Chicago Fall Tennis Classic 2021
• Date: September 27 – October 3, 2021
• Number of Entrants: 28 (Singles), 16 (Doubles)
• Venue: San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
• Surface: Hard Court
• Prize Money: $565,530
• Defending champion: –

Top Seeds at the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic

• Elina Svitolina
• Garbine Muguruza
• Belinda Bencic
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
• Elena Rybakina

Women’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

Top Half

Elina Svitolina will headline the top half of the draw and receives a first round bye alongwith the other top 7 seeds. She will face either Amanda Anisimova or Viktorija Golubic in the second round. She would then face either Camila Giorgi, Elena Ruse or Marta Kostyuk in the Round of 16. Svitolina is drawn alongside 6th seed Ons Jabeur who could face Hsieh Su-wei or wild card Kim Clijsters in the second round.

9th seed Jessica Pegula will open her campaign against a qualifier and could face another qualifier or Andrea Petkovic in the second round. Jabeur and Svitolina are projected to play each other in the first quarterfinal.

Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic could face either a qualifier or a wild card in the second round. She would go onto face Tereza Martincova, Sloane Stephens or 13th seed Tamara Zidansek in the Round of 16. Meanwhile, 5th seed Elena Rybakina has been handed a fairly easy draw early on and is expected to face Madison Keys in the second round. The Kazakh can the go onto face Veronika Kudermetova in the Round of 16. Bencic and Rybakina could lock horns in the second quarterfinal.

1st semifinal prediction: Ons Jabeur vs Belinda Bencic

Bottom Half

The bottom half of the draw will be headlined by Spaniard Garbine Muguruza. Her quarter of the draw is probably the toughest and will feature some big names. She will open against Ann Li or Donna Vekic and could go onto face Victoria Azarenka in the third round who opens against Shuai Zhang.

8th seed Bianca Andreescu is expected to face Shelby Rogers in the second round and is drawn alongwith in form Anett Kontaveit who faces Madison Brengle in the opener. The winner of Andreescu vs Kontaveit could go onto face Garbine Muguruza in the Round of 16.

French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face the winner of Marketa Vondrousova vs Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round and could face Jil Teichmann in the third round who opens against Kaia Kanepi. 6th seed Elise Mertens and Danielle Collins are in the same mini quarter and could lock horns in the third round.

2nd semifinal prediction: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Anett Kontaveit

Semifinals

The first semifinal will be between hard hitters Ons Jabeur and Belinda Bencic. Both the players have a decent hard court game and are expected to push each other to the limit. Bencic will have an edge given her recent form and should reach yet another final.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face Ostrava Open champion Anett Kontaveit in the second semifinal. Kontaveit is in hot form and it will require a special performance from Pavlyuchenkova to outclass the Estonian despite being ranked higher.

Final prediction: Belinda Bencic vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Final

Olympic champion Belinda Bencic will be up against French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final of the Chicago Fall Classic. Both the players are in amazing form this season and would fancy their chances to lift the trophy. Expect the match to go down the distance with Bencic winning the inaugural edition.

Champion: Belinda Bencic

Also read: San Diego Open 2021: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction