Jessica Pegula needed just a little over an hour on Easter Sunday to retain her title at the Credit One Charleston Open, besting the surprise unseeded finalist Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. Pegula, who trained in Hilton Head and on Daniel Island in the early stages of her career, became the first player to win back-to-back Charleston … [Read more...]

American teen phenom Iva Jovic swiftly announced herself on to the WTA professional tennis tour this year, reaching the semis at Auckland, New Zealand’s ASB Classic, the finals of the Hobart International in Tasmania, Australia and the quarterfinal at the Australian Open, becoming the youngest American to make the AO quarters since Venus Williams in 1998. Jovic hadn’t lost a … [Read more...]

Half a century ago, women’s tennis witnessed the coronation of a queen. This matriarch built a dynasty from a green clay foundation. Spectators called her the “Queen of Clay,” pundits referred to her as the “Ice Maiden” and players and friends knew her as Chrissie. Fifty years later, Chris Evert is still revered as the woman in the arena. Following the inaugural Family … [Read more...]

Charleston native Shelby Rogers assumed a different role at this year’s Credit One Charleston Open now that she has retired from professional tennis. From behind the net to behind the microphone, Rogers commentated matches on the Tennis Channel throughout the week at the WTA 500 tournament. Rogers, who grew up in Mount Pleasant’s Snee Farm neighborhood before her family … [Read more...]

Any hopes of Emma Navarro winning her hometown tournament will have to wait until next year as fellow American Amanda Anisimova ousted her in the quarterfinals of the Credit One Charleston Open on April 4. The tightly-contested match opened with eight straight holds as the servers hit their spots early. That was followed by three consecutive breaks, including two for … [Read more...]

Next year will mark another historic milestone for the Credit One Charleston Open as the tournament will provide equal prize money to players starting in 2026. Getting out far ahead of the curve, COCO, North America’s largest women’s-only professional tennis tournament, becomes the first standalone WTA 500 tournament to voluntarily increase prize money prior to the 2033 goal … [Read more...]

Charleston tennis phenom Emma Navarro is known for her stone-cold seriousness and stoic demeanor on the court. But off the court she has recently begun displaying a more jovial side to her personality on social media. At the Credit One Charleston Open Media Day on March 31, the WTA 2024 Player of the Year talked about her social media presence and how she finds the balance … [Read more...]

Charleston’s Emma Navarro recorded the best season of her young and promising professional tennis career in 2024. All of which included achieving her greatest success in a major to date, reaching the US Open semifinals before losing a hard-fought match to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka, 3-6, 6-7 (2). On Dec. 9, the WTA Tour presented the 23-year-old with its Most Improved … [Read more...]

Capping a 15-year professional tennis career, Mount Pleasant native Shelby Rogers competed in her final singles match on the WTA Tour Aug. 27 at iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium against fellow American Jessica Pegula in the U.S. Open’s first round, eventually falling 4-6, 3-6. “It was such an honor to be able to play on Ashe again and have that moment where I’ve had so many … [Read more...]