FOLLOWING the withdrawal of world number two Simona Halep and would-be second seed Johanna Konta, the 2020 Palermo Ladies Open field, which kicks off the recommencement of the WTA Tour on Monday, is wide open. As it stands, Petra Martic is the highest ranked player confirmed to play at the event, and given her recent form on clay, is one of a number of standouts.

The Croatian world number 15 is more than capable on the surface, but still inconsistent with just a 54.2 per cent career winning record. Her recent form is solid though and her current ELO rating (comparing success by opponents’ relative strength) has her second overall in the field, marginally ahead of Greek up and comer Maria Sakkari. She has won 16 of 19 matches on clay in the past 52 weeks, with a 45.5 per cent success rate for breaking opponents serves.

Sakkari herself has a 13-5 record over the past 52 weeks on clay, and is breaking her opponents at an impressive 45.7 per cent. It might be a small sample size, but it shows that perhaps Sakkari could be a sneaky chance outside the top four players.

Some might forget that Marketa Vondrousova made it all the way to the 2019 Roland Garros final before falling to Ash Barty, but her work on clay is more than capable of beating the best on her day. She has only dropped three games in 18 attempts in the past 52 weeks, so should be taken into account. It is easy to forget that the world number 18 is still only 20-years-old.

Looking at some potential outsiders on the surface, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko is a chance. Ostapenko was deemed the fifth strongest clay courter on Tour at the start of 2019, having triumphed at Roland Garros in 2017 and holding a career winning record of 63.6 per cent. She has fallen flat since then with a 3-7 record on the surface, but if she can rekindle that form she is a good outside chance.

Although not a renowned super clay courter, Kristina Mladenovic must come into consideration as well. She has won seven of 12 on the surface the past 52 weeks and has a good holding and breaking retention rate. Others who are proven winners at their best on the surface are Polona Hercog, Rebecca Peterson and if you like a hometown story, then Camila Giorgi has run at about 50 per cent on the surface over her career, but has not played there on clay in the past 12 months. For someone ranked quite low, she has a good record against Top 10 players, winning about a third of the time.

PALERMO LADIES OPEN ENTRY LIST: (Bolded are seeds)

#15 Petra Martic (Croatia)
#18 Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic)
#20 Maria Sakkari (Greece)
#22 Anett Kontaveit (Estonia)
#23 Elise Mertens (Belgium)
#24 Donna Vekic (Croatia)
#25 Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine)
#26 Karoline Muchova (Czech Republic)
#27 Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia)
#41 Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia)
#42 Kristina Mladenovic (France)
#44 Rebecca Peterson (Sweden)
#45 Polona Hercog (Slovenia)
#49 Iga Swiatek (Poland)
#53 Fiona Ferro (France)
#57 Alison Van Uytvanck (Belgium)
#61 Anna Blinkova (Russia)
#65 Laura Siegemund (Germany)
#66 Daria Kasatkina (Russia)
#69 Kristyna Pliskova (Czech Republic)
#70 Arantxa Rus (Netherlands)
#71 Tamara Zidansek (Slovenia)
#75 Sorana Cirstea (Romania)
#77 Kristen Flipkens (Belgium)
#89 Camila Giorgi (Italy) (WC)