Week In Preview: Chicago, Cleveland join WTA scene; and a Carolina clash between Murray and Kyrgios

The players get their last matches in before the US Open. We look ahead at two new women's tournaments in the Midwest, and the men’s draw in Winston-Salem.

BySteve Tignor

Published Aug 22, 2021

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We’re at T minus one week from the US Open. That means the fields will thin as the top contenders for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament head to New York. For those who are just below them in the rankings, though, there’s tennis to be played over the next seven days. For fans, there are some potentially entertaining match-ups in store. Here’s a look at the men’s draw in Winston-Salem, and women’s draws at new WTA tournaments in Chicago and Cleveland.

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Winston-Salem Open (ATP)

Winston-Salem, North Carolina
$807,210; ATP 250
Hard court
Draw is here

Pablo Carreño Busta, David Goffin, Dan Evans and Marton Fucsovics are the top four seeds here. But to start, all eyes will be on a first-round match between two unseeded players and friends, Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios. The tournament isn’t wasting any time putting its star attractions in the spotlight: Murray and Kyrgios will face off on Sunday evening. Murray is 5-1 against Kyrgios, but Kyrgios won their last match, at Queen’s Club, in 2018. The winner will play another fan favorite, Frances Tiafoe.

Kyrgios got on the board in his head-to-head series with Murray for the first time in six tries when the two last met in 2018 at Queen's Club in London.

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Chicago Women’s Open (WTA)

Chicago
$235,238; WTA 250
Hard court
Draw is here

Chicago hosted the Laver Cup a few years ago, but otherwise, it has long been one of the world’s biggest markets without a high-level tennis event to its name. This August, it has had two. On Sunday, Emma Raducanu and Clara Tauson play the final of the Chicago 125. On Monday, a new field of 32 will arrive for the Chicago Women’s Open. The seeds are Elina Svitolina, Sorana Cirstea, Tamara Zidansk and Marketa Vondrousova.

First-round matches to watch: Venus Williams vs. Su-Wei Hsieh; Alizé Cornet vs. Ann Li—A Pennsylvania native, Li lost to Clara Tauson in the semis in Chicago on Saturday; she’ll stay in the Windy City to take on Cornet.

Kasatkina owns a 31-15 record and two titles in 2021.

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Tennis in the Land (WTA)

Cleveland, Ohio
$235,238; WTA 250
Hard court
Draw is here

There’s tennis in the land—Cleveland, that is. Like Chicago, this Rust Belt burg isn’t often associated with the sport, but the new tournament has put together a quality field. Daria Kasatkina, Anett Kontaveit, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Johanna Konta, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Shelby Rogers, Caty McNally and Cincinnati finalist Jil Teichmann are among the notable names trying to get in as many matches as they can before the Open.

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