Defending champion Iga Swiatek along with Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka top the entry list for the Miami Open 2023, which begins March 21 at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami is the second leg of the "Sunshine Double," which will follow Indian Wells, and the third WTA 1000 event of the year. After defeating former No. 1 Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 in the championship match last year, Swiatek made history by becoming the youngest player to win both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.
Swiatek took over as the World No. 1 after her performance in Miami, and she hasn't given it up since. Swiatek heads into her 47th consecutive week as the leader of the WTA Tour as she competes in the Dubai Tennis Championships after taking home her maiden championship of the year at the Qatar Open.
Among the 10 Grand Slam champions who earned straight entry were Swiatek and Sabalenka. Emma Raducanu, who has been named as a main draw wild card, will raise that to 11.
Two previous US Open champions have been named as the first wild cards for the competition, including Raducanu. Dominic Thiem, the winner for men in 2020, joins the 20-year-old British, who won her maiden major at Flushing Meadows in 2021.
Due to tonsillitis, the former World No. 10 Raducanu was forced to withdraw from this week's competition in Austin. She is four positions beyond the Miami main draw cutoff at No. 80 now (as of Mar. 2). The first two main draw alternates are Maryna Zanevska and Nuria Parrizas Diaz, and Anna Bondar is the final direct entry.
Here are the Top 20 players on the Miami Open entry list: Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Sofia Kenin (SR), Caroline Garcia, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari, Daria Kasatkina, Belinda Bencic, Elena Rybakina, Veronika Kudermetova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Liudmila Samsonova, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Karolina Pliskova, Paula Badosa and Jelena Ostapenko.
( With inputs from ANI )
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