A two-time quarterfinalist in Winston-Salem, 26-year-old Borna Coric will enter as the top seed looking for a title. It would be his first one in 2023.
Though the Croatian is still ranked inside the world's top 20, he will want to turn his hard court summer around, after having made an early exit in Canada at the National Bank Open in Toronto and again in Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Open, where he was not able to defend his title.
Coincidentally, the man who defeated him, American Sebastian Korda, is also in Winston-Salem. Korda enters as the no. 3 seed and will face the winner of the all-French affair, Alexandre Muller vs. Benjamin Bonzi, in the second round. Korda, currently sitting at number 30 in the rankings, will make his Winston-Salem debut and hope to pick up some more match play before the U.S. Open later this month.
The no. 2 seed in this year's event is Tallon Griekpoor who is arguably flying below the radar, despite having made the finals in Washington D.C. just last month, where he fell to Britain's Dan Evans (5-7, 3-6). Griekspoor is enjoying a career-high ranking as of this week at no. 25 in the world and has already collected two titles this year - one on hard and one on grass. His first opponent will be the winner of Nuno Borges of Portugal vs. Great Britain's Jack Draper. The Dutchman played Winston-Salem last year, came through two rounds of qualifying and won two rounds in the main draw before falling to Botic van de Zandschulp - who is also in this year's draw.
Laslo Djere of Serbia is another returning talent to the Piedmont Triad. He spent the most hours on court at the 2022 Winston-Salem Open with his first four rounds going three sets each time, and in the semifinals against Marc-Andrea Huesler of Switzerland, it was two more tight sets (7-6, 7-6). The 28-year-old will be looking, like Coric, for his first title this year. He would only need to get one step further.
Fan-favorite and wild card Dominic Thiem is back on the hard courts at the Wake Forest University Tennis Complex and faces France's Arthur Rinderknech in his first round matchup. Thiem played Winston-Salem in 2022 as one of his first tournaments back after several injuries sidelined him for a year.
Two more Americans received wild cards into the main draw, and both are having breakthrough seasons.
California native Alex Michelsen made the finals in Newport earlier this summer in only his second ATP Tour-level event. The 18-year-old decided just two weeks ago to turn pro and forgo his college eligibility. He will try to oust Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas for a chance to face no. 15 seed Sebastian Ofner of Austria.
Michael Mmoh is also having a productive summer with a signature win under his belt in Washington, D.C. when he upset top-20 player Hubert Hurkacz (the 2019 Winston-Salem Open champion). This is the first year Mmoh has broken into the world's top 100 and will look to continue gaining ground before the the U.S. Open.
Qualifying rounds begin tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.
