The 2023 Cymbiotika San Diego Open Presented by ResMed has awarded main draw wild cards to former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova (above, left) of the Czech Republic and American Katie Volynets (above, right), tournament officials announced.
The WTA 500 tournament begins at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 9 with first-round qualifying matches and continues through Saturday, Sept. 16 at Barnes Tennis Center, 4490 West Point Loma Blvd.
The 27-year-old Krejcikova is ranked No. 12 in the WTA singles rankings and won the French Open singles championship in 2021. She has six career WTA singles titles and reached a career-high No. 2 in the world in February 2022.
Krejcikova also established herself as one of the premier doubles players on the WTA Tour as she has captured 16 career doubles titles, including the Australian Open (2023, 2022), French Open (2021, 2018), Wimbledon (2022, 2018) and US Open (2022). In October 2018, Krejcikova achieved the No. 1 spot in the WTA doubles rankings and finished that year as the top-ranked doubles player in the world. Volynets, a 21-year-old native of Walnut Creek, Calif., is no stranger to the Cymbiotika San Diego Open tournament venue. In 2019, Volynets joined a long list of distinguished American champions when she won the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships at Barnes Tennis Center.
As a touring professional, Volynets had her best year on the WTA Tour in 2023, advancing to the third round of the Australian Open in January and reaching a career-high No. 74 in the WTA singles rankings this past March.
Tournament officials announced in July that the Cymbiotika San Diego Open would extend a qualifying wild card to the winner of the 2023 USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships which took place last month at Barnes Tennis Center.
Clervie Ngounoue, a 17-year-old native of Washington, defeated San Diego’s Katherine Hui 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the singles title and earn a wild card into this weekend’s qualifying competition.
This past June, Ngounoue became the No. 1 ranked player in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings. The following month, playing on grass at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, she won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title.
San Diego’s Alyssa Ahn accepted a wild card into the qualifying draw. The 16-year-old local entrant just started her junior year at Torrey Pines High School. In 2022, Ahn captured the 16s singles title at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s National Championships. Competing in this year’s Girls’ 18s Nationals, she advanced to the fourth round.
“It’s super special to receive this wild card and I am very grateful to the Cymbiotika San Diego Open. It’s such a great opportunity,” said Ahn, who trains year-round at Barnes Tennis Center.
“We are thrilled to offer wild cards to Barbora Krejcikova, a Top 15 player, and young American Katie Volynets. The depth of our main draw is amazing and it will be exciting to see who gets through to the finals,” said tournament director Ryan Redondo. “With the addition of Ngounoue and Ahn, it’s going to be an entertaining opening weekend in the qualifying draw. Six players will advance from qualifying into the main draw.”
The 2023 Cymbiotika San Diego Open will offer $780,637 in prize money and have a 24-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. Qualifying rounds are scheduled to be played Sept. 9-10 with Main Draw matches starting Sept. 11 and concluding with the singles and doubles final on September 16.
The starting times for each day of the 2023 Cymbiotika San Diego Open will be as follows:
Day 1 Qualifying – Saturday, Sept. 9 – 10 a.m.
Day 2 Qualifying – Sunday, Sept. 10 – 11 a.m.
Main Draw Day Sessions – Monday, Sept. 11 — Friday, Sept. 15 – 11:30 a.m.
Main Draw Evening Sessions – Monday, Sept. 11 — Friday, Sept. 15 – 5:30 p.m.
Doubles Championship – Saturday, Sept. 16 – 1:30 p.m.
Singles Championship – Saturday, Sept. 16 – 4 p.m.
Tickets, which range from $25 per day for General Admission seating during Qualifying Rounds to $275 for VIP seating on the final day of the tournament, are currently on sale at SeatGeek.com which can be accessed through the official tournament website at https://wtasdopen.com/.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland captured the singles title at last year’s inaugural San Diego Open with a thrilling 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Donna Vekic of Croatia before a capacity crowd on Stadium Court at Barnes Tennis Center. Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula defeated Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico 1-6, 7-5, 10-4 to win the doubles championship.
