What to know about the San Diego Open Women’s tennis tournament

What to know about next weeks San Diego Open tennis tournament at Barnes Tennis Center

San Diego Open WTA 500

Background: Its the Inaugural version of this tournament and first WTA event in the San Diego area since 2015 at La Costa Resort & Spa.

Purse and points: $757,000, including $116,340 for champion; 500 points in WTA rankings.

When: Qualifying, Saturday-Sunday; Main draw, Monday-Oct. 16. Semifinals, 2 pm, Oct. 15; Singles final, 4 pm, Oct. 16.

Where: Barnes Tennis Center, with bleachers added for 2,300 center court seats and 500 on adjacent court.

Field: 32 singles players; 16 doubles teams.

Octagon angle: This is one of 10 tournaments owned or operated by Octagon Sports and Entertainment Network, a worldwide Talent agency, whose influence may be reflected in the tourney field. The tournament is operating on a three-year contract in San Diego with an option for two more.

Top-10 players: Well. 1 Iga Swiatek (Poland), No. 3 Anett Kontaveit (Estonia), No. 4 Paula Badosa (Spain), No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), No. 6 Jessica Pegula (US), No. 8 Coco Gauff (US), and No. 10 Caroline Garcia (France). The field includes 16 of the top 20 players.

French Open redux? The possibility exits for a repeat of this years French Open final between Swiatek and Gauff. Swiatek won that tourney and later the US Open.

Tourney twins: This tournament comes two weeks following the Finals of the second edition of the ATP tournament also known as the San Diego Open. The men’s tourney has operated each time on a one-year contract with no future tour commitment.

Wild Cards: American Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, has been granted a wild-card entry. Once ranked as high as No. 3, she is currently 50th. Also joining the main draw is Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, a US Open finalist last year, now ranked 38th.

Tickets: Prices range from $20 for Qualifying to $60 and higher for the last four days. VIP options are also available.

Parking: $20 advance online or $25 on location at South Shores Park, near Sea World, with shuttle to site. VIP parking only at tourney site.

Television: Tennis Channel has live coverage slated of the semifinals and final. Earlier in the week, there will be intermittent coverage mixed with other tours around the world.

Online: barnessdopen.com