Entry List for WTA Monterrey Open 2025: Leylah Fernandez and Ekaterina Alexandrova lead final US Open warm-up

The WTA Entry List for the WTA 500 Abierto GNP Seguros Monterrey Open has been revealed, with the tournament taking place from August 18-24 in the week before the US Open. The tournament will feature up to 10 of the 32 seeds from the last Grand Slam of the year, led by Ekaterina Alexandrova and Diana Shnaider as the favorites and the only two top-20 players in the draw.

It will also be an opportunity to see other notable names looking to get into the best rhythm for Flushing Meadows. Former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin will be among the high-profile names in a draw that also features Anna Kalinskaya, Donna Vekic, and the defending champion Linda Noskova.

Several of the WTA's biggest stars will be fine-tuning their game to compete in New York—the biggest goal of the North American hardcourt swing—but there will also be competition in the Mexican city, where Noskova, Vekic, Fernandez, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova are among the former champions who will be present in the draw.

Alexandrova and Shnaider headline the draw

The Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova is probably the player in the draw who has been in the best form this year and has not received enough credit for it. She has a 30-15 record this season, with one title at the WTA 500 Linz Open, a semifinal appearance at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open, and a couple of fourth rounds at the recent French Open and Wimbledon. The 30-year-old Russian only gets better with age, and this season she has five wins against top-10 players.

However, the start of the hardcourt swing has not been very promising; she was surprisingly eliminated in Hamburg by Hungarian Anna Bondar in the quarterfinals and failed to get past the first round at the Canadian Open against China's Zhu Lin. We will have to see if she can regroup in the coming weeks and if Monterrey can be a final chance to build confidence before another Grand Slam, where her goal will surely be to finally get past the fourth round, a stage she has never surpassed in her career at a major.

On the other hand, the Russian Diana Shnaider has lost momentum in recent months. She has only five wins and six losses since the start of Roland Garros two months ago, and only one victory in her last five appearances, including an early exit in Montreal against Marie Bouzkova. The Russian spent months hovering around the top 10 but has lost ground, currently sitting at No. 18. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old has already shown her talent, and with a draw free of the Tour's biggest stars, she will have a chance to compete for the title.

Former Champions aim for glory

The player who has had the most success at the tournament is the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with an absolute record of four titles (2010, '11, '13, '17), making it the stage that has brought her the most success. The 34-year-old veteran has managed to stay around the top 30 during the last season with consistent results that always make her a tough name for anyone to face. In Monterrey, there is no doubt a special motivation, and she will be a name to consider, despite not securing a spot among the eight seeds in the tournament.

One player who will be seeded is the defending champion, Linda Noskova, a recent finalist at the Prague Open in late July. She was eliminated early at the Canadian Open against Jaqueline Cristian, although the short three-day turnaround between her final and her match in Montreal—combined with the long trip and change of conditions—could explain the drop in performance of the Czech star, who will be a name to watch during the rest of the hardcourt swing. At 20 years old, her only title came in Monterrey, and she needs to defend it to avoid a significant drop in the rankings.

Also returning to Monterrey will be two-time champion Leylah Fernandez, who won the title in 2022 and 2023. As in all recent seasons, she is looking to get into a good rhythm before the US Open, where she was a finalist in 2021, falling in the memorable final to Emma Raducanu. Leylah recently lifted her first WTA 500 title at the DC Open, and despite an early exit in Montreal, she has shown that she has everything it takes to return to a spot among the best, just as she captivated the world at Flushing Meadows four years ago.