The 2024 edition of the Transylvania Open has set its main draw. And the conclusion, after the draw, is that we have a lot of great matches waiting for us. The whole competition is an open one, with different opportunities for the female players that are present at the start of the tournament: players are looking for a restart, such as Karolina Pliskova or Yanina Wickamyer; other players who will try to confirm their status as favorites, such as Arantxa Rus, Tatjana Maria or Anna Blinkova; we also have players who started again from scratch and are now trying to return at their highest level, after long break periods, like Anastasija Sevastova or Caty McNally. There is also a category of players who just started their journey in tennis, who are looking for confirmation or reconfirmation of their ascent: Alicia Parks, Clara Tauson, or Camila Osorio Serrano.
And of course, we have five female players from Romania – Ana Bogdan, Jaqueline Cristian, Miriam Bulgaru, Anca Todoni, and Andreea Mitu – who will try to take advantage of this tournament and gather enough confidence and points for the start of this new season.
The main favorite player of this year’s tournament in Cluj is Arantxa Rus, from the Netherlands, who is 33 and ranked 43rd in the world. Rus will open the tournament against the Belgian player Greet Minnen. In the second round, Rus could meet Yanina Wickmayer, who will play against a qualifier.
This is our draw, these are our competitors, this is Transylvania Open 2024. And somewhere on this draw is a story in the making, a story waiting to be told 🪄
Let’s enjoy it together!#TO2024 🧛🏻♀️🎾 pic.twitter.com/BK9XdzXrZm
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) February 4, 2024
On the Dutch player’s side of the table is also Ana Bogdan, number 8 favorite, who will debut against a very strong player who is in great shape: Alicia Parks, who arrived in Cluj after a successful third round at the Australian Open 2024, including a victory over the Canadian Leylah Fernandez, US Open finalist (a few years ago). In case of a victory, Ana Bogdan could meet Anca Todoni, who is making her debut in Cluj, in the next round. Todoni will play in the first round against a qualifier.
In the upper part of the table, all female players from Romania are distributed: in addition to Ana Bogdan and Anca Todoni, Miriam Bulgaru and Jaqueline Cristian (who will play against each other in the first round, in a highly anticipated match) are also present here, as well as Andreea Mitu.
Andreea Mitu is the revelation of the 2023 season, winning 51 matches and approaching the top 200 female players in the world. Andreea will meet Anastasija Sevastova in the first round, in her first match at a WTA tournament after more than three years. Anastasija returned to professional tennis last year and is present for the first time in the main draw of a major tournament since 2022 (Australian Open).
The second favorite of the tournament is Tatjana Maria. At 36, Tatjana Maria is at a point in her career where she is playing her best tennis and has achieved her most relevant results, including a Wimbledon semi-final. Maria will meet Zhuoxuan Bai, a 22-year-old player from China who recently entered the WTA top 100, in the first round.
In this section of the table, apart from the leaders – Anna Blinkova, 3rd favorite and the 2022 champion, Viktoriya Tomova, 7th favorite, Elina Avanesyan, and Elisabetta Cocciaretto – one of the most important players present in Cluj is Karolina Pliskova. Former world leader, Karolina is not the top seed in Cluj, but she is capable of beating anyone at any time. Pliskova will make her Transylvania Open debut against a qualifier and could face either Tomova or Camila Osorio Serrano in the second round.
Of course, we must not forget Anna Blinkova, the 2022 champion from Cluj. Two editions ago, Blinkova won the tournament coming from the qualifications. This year, Blinkova is the 3rd favorite and seems to have a pretty friendly lane: she will play a qualifier in the first round, she could meet Laura Siegemund or Parrizas-Diaz in the next round, and she could fight for a place in the semifinals with Elisabetta Cocciaretto, the 5th favorite.
Monday. This looks like serious business 👌🏻#TO2024 pic.twitter.com/Siq1W6LfYJ
— Transylvania Open (@TransylvaniaOpn) February 4, 2024
