McNally seeks title defence at first W100 tournament of 2020
The first $100k tournament of the 2020 ITF World Tennis Tour gets underway in Michigan this week, with USA’s Caty McNally set to return to the scene of her biggest career triumph to date at W100 Midland.
The tournament is the first in a series of higher prize money events taking place on the World Tennis Tour over the course of the month, with the Midland event followed by two new events at W100 level in Cairo, Egypt and Nicholasville, Kentucky, USA, on 10-16 February.
Further higher tier tournaments at W60 level in Cairo and Kyoto will follow before the month is out.
The ITF’s W100, W80, and W60 events, broadly equivalent to the men’s ATP Challenger tournaments, are the bridge to the WTA Tour. In 2019, 76 tournaments took place at this level, an increase of 10 on the 2018 season, and 2020 has started just as positively - the first three months of 2020 will see 12 W60-W80-W100 tournaments, four more than the same period in 2019.
Eighteen-year-old McNally, for one, will be hoping to capitalise on the points and prize money on offer on home soil. Fresh from her second-round run as a qualifier at the Australian Open, the teenager be looking for a repeat of the run that carried her to the 2019 title in Midland, where she defeated compatriot Jessica Pegula in the final.
Pegula, the world No. 64, returns as top seed for the event, which runs from 3-9 February, while 2018 champion Madison Brengle joins McNally as one of two former winners looking for a repeat triumph.
Eight players on the entry list have achieved career-high WTA rankings within the top 100, while former world No. 5 Sara Errani is also a notable participant. The Italian, who holds a career Slam of Grand Slam doubles titles, will be eyeing her first title since winning at a W60 tournament in Rome last June.
The Midland event has been a $100k prize money event since 2010, when the late Elena Baltacha secured the first of her two tournament victories at $100k level. Prior to then, the likes of Justine Henin (1999), Li Na (2002 champion) and Maria Sharapova (2003) have all graced the Michigan courts.