Watch: Robot Bizarrely Performs Coin Toss During Guadalajara Open

The final of the Guadalajara Open will be held on September 14. Polish player Magdalena Frech is the defending champion, and she defeated Olivia Gadecki the previous season. This year, Elise Mertens is playing as the first seed.

Frech has so far played two singles finals in her career and tasted success only once, in last year’s Guadalajara Open. First seed Mertens is chasing her third title of the season after her victories at the Singapore Open and the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships by defeating Ann Li and Elena-Gabriela Ruse, respectively. She lost the Hobart International final to McCartney Kessler. The last WTA 500 Mertens won was the 2021 Gippsland Trophy.

Jelena Ostapenko is chasing her second title of the season at the Guadalajara Open

Jelena Ostapenko‘s US Open run ended in complete disappointment as she not only suffered early exits in both singles and doubles, but her altercation with Taylor Townsend made global headlines. The Latvian suffered a round exit in doubles along with partner Barbora Krejcikova, losing the match to the 11th seeds Timea Babos and Luisa Stefani.

But in singles, right after her straight-set defeat to Townsend, she hurled the “no class” and “no education” remark on the American ace, and it was perceived as racist by many, drawing criticism from the tennis world, including Naomi Osaka, who also seemingly took a jibe at her by posting a photo of her and Townsend on her Instagram. Ostapenko eventually apologized, blaming her English.

The 28-year-old has now shifted her focus to the Guadalajara Open and is playing the event as the third seed. The 2017 French Open champion will lock horns with Marina Stakusic to kick-start her campaign. The winner of this match will lock horns with Storm Hunter and Emiliana Arango.

Ostapenko has never played the final of the Guadalajara Open. Last year, she lost to Stakusic in her opening round. This year, Ostapenko has reached two finals, losing the Qatar Open to two-time Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anisimova and winning the Stuttgart Open by defeating World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Emma Navarro withdrew from Guadalajara Open

The total number of entrants is 28, including six qualifiers and four wild cards. From them, eight players are seeded ones, with the top four seeds getting a bye into the second round.

Emma Navarro withdrew from the tournament as well as Anna Kalinskaya . Leylah Fernandez , who paired up with Venus Williams for the US Open doubles and reached the quarterfinals, also chose to skip the event.

The total prize pool is $1.06 million. The winner will get $164,000 while the runner-up will receive $101,000. Those reaching the semifinals and quarterfinals will pocket $59,000 and $28,695, respectively, while those in the first and second rounds will get $15,700 and $11,300, respectively.