The Middle East swing complete, the WTA Tour piloted by Mercedes Benz moves to America where a WTA 500 will take place next week in Merida, Mexico, while a WTA 250 will be held in Austin, Texas.
Mérida, Mexico – WTA 500 Merida Open Akron 2026
The 2026 Merida Open Akron takes place at the Yucatan Country Club in Merida, Mexico, with American Emma Navarro as the defending champion, who returns this year as No. 2 in an attempt to retain her title.
The top seed is Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, with Ann Li of the US and Czech Marie Bouzkova seeded third and fourth, and these four have all received byes in the first round.
They are joined by numbers 5-8, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain and Poland’s Magda Linette, who will all be in action in the first round.
Britain’s Katie Boulter gets a wildcard into the main draw and opens against Brazilian southpaw Beatriz Haddad Maia, while compatriot Heather Watson is in qualifying and won her Q1 match on Saturday, upsetting second-seeded Diane Parry of France 6-4 6-4.
Watson will face Bulgaria’s Lia Karatancheva on Sunday for a place in the main draw.
Paolini, who initially did not participate in the tournament, accepted a wildcard in recent days and will look to rebuild her confidence after a difficult start to the 2026 season.
The world number 8 has lost her last three main draw matches and failed to progress beyond the third round at the Australian Open.
The 30-year-old Italian will face American wildcard Sloane Stephens or Mexico’s Renata Zarazua to open her campaign.
Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, announced on social media this weekend that she and her husband Jozy Altidore, a former footballer, are splitting after four years of marriage.
“Jozy and I have decided to end our marriage,” read an Instagram post on Saturday. “I peacefully navigate this transition with mutual respect and kindly ask for privacy during this time.”
In her top part of the draw, Paolini could face either Boulter or Haddad Maia in the quarter-finals, although the winner will first have to navigate past eighth seed Tjen or Colombia’s Camila Osorio.
Navarro, the defending champion, is also looking to get her season going after six defeats in her first 10 matches, and the American, now ranked 19th, will face a qualifier in the second round to open her campaign.
Last year’s finalist, Emiliana Arango of Colombia, starts hers against Anastasia Potapova of Austria, meeting fourth seed Bouzkova in Round 2.
Also notable is Zeynep Sonmez, the Turk who announced her withdrawal from the tournament on social media earlier this week, but was ultimately included in the draw.
Sonmez, who won the Mexican event in 2024 when it was a WTA 250, will face a first-round qualifier.
Merida takes place the same week as the WTA 250 ATX Open Austin ahead of the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami.
atxopen.com
Austin, Texas | WTA 250 ATX Open Austin
Jessica Pegula, the newly crowned Dubai champion, is ranked No. 1 in Austin and will face Rebecca Sramkova of the Slovak Republic in the opening round of her ATX Open title defense, but there are some doubts about her participation.
Pegula defeated Elina Svitolina in straight sets in the Dubai final on Saturday to win her 4th WTA Tour 1000 title, closing the gap with Coco Gauff at No. 4 in the WTA rankings.
With her opening match against Sramkova in Texas scheduled for Monday, it remains to be seen whether she will feature given the grueling week in the hot and humid conditions of the United Arab Emirates last week.
Pegula, who defeated McCartney Kessler in the 2025 final, could face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round, with the Canadian set to face Hungary’s Dalma Gálfi in her opener.
Andreescu, who is still battling injuries and has been playing on the ITF Circuit in recent months, was given a wildcard into the main draw as she is currently ranked 155th.
The Canadian last competed at WTA Tour level in October 2025.
If the seedings hold, Pegula is expected to meet seventh seed Caty McNally, her American compatriot, in the quarterfinals and China’s Wang Xinyu, the third seed, in the semifinals.
Wang faces a first-round qualifier and, if she makes it through, she will face another yet-to-be-determined qualifier in the second round, with fifth seed Varvara Gracheva of France opening against wildcard Taylor Townsend of the US, who is expected to be a quarterfinal opponent.
Another American, No. 2 seed Iva Jovic, leads the bottom half of the draw and faces a tough opener against former world No. 32 Anna Blinkova, although the Russian is currently ranked No. 83.
The 18-year-old, who is ranked No. 20 after her run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, could face the great Venus Williams, 45, if she can get past Blinkova.
Williams is a former world number 1 who has been given a wildcard and will face Australian world number 73 Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round before a potential meeting with Jovic.
It will be the seven-time Grand Slam winner’s first appearance on tour since losing to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic in the first round of the Australian Open.
However, Jovic is tipped to reach the quarter-finals, where she may face eighth seed Petra Marcinko of Croatia, before likely clashing with fellow countryman Peyton Stearns, the fourth seed, in the semi-finals.
However, Stearns must get past Britain’s Fran Jones in the first round and possibly sixth seed Anna Bondar of Hungary in the quarterfinals.
Jones is the only Briton in the main draw in Austin, although Emily Appleton made an appearance in qualifying, losing 7-6(2) 6-2 to American Louisa Chirico, the 10th seed, in Q1 on Saturday, but she is also in the doubles alongside Chile’s Alexa Guarachi.
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