Jessica Pegula is now a WTA champion.

The Group of Death contains two former No. 1s, a No. 2, and last year’s US Open semifinalist and quarterfinalist among other floaters…Tough starts for (5) Svitolina vs. the grasscourt title-winner Maria, (21) Sevastova vs. Giorgi, (32) Radwanska vs. Safarova 2nd rd., and (2) Wozniacki vs. Makarova 2nd rd…(25) Serena’s early path is former world No. 1 junior Arantxa Rus, a qualifier/wildcard, then (5) Svitolina, then (10) Keys.

Tough starts for (9) Stephens vs. Vekic and (9) Cornet vs. Kudryavtseva…The storm of players pulling from the field included Daria Gavrilova, Camila Giorgi, Yanina Wickmayer and Caroline Wozniacki…

“I love red clay, so starting in Madrid, I think I’ll have a lot of fun and just look forward to the French Open,” she says. “Obviously coming into [Charleston], I have a lot of anxiety coming into this tournament because I’ve never done well here. I just thought, you know, I’m just going to go have fun.”

Two Top 10ers in the field, in addition to two former No. 1s…The Top 8 seeds receive opening-round byes…Potential tough starts for (9) Jankovic vs. Garcia and (3) Venus Williams vs. Riske…Wildcards were awarded to Americans Frances Altick, Louisa Chirico and Shelby Rogers…

Top-seeded Sloane Stephens withdrew from the event after the draw was made…Now no Top 30 players in the field…Possible tough starts for (4) Niculescu vs. McHale, and (2) Giorgi vs. Diyas, who found herself seeded as numerous events last year…Bouchard in the lower half ready to meet the No. 8 and 2 seeds early…

Top-seeded Garbine Muguruza pulled from the event after winning Beijing, forcing a shuffle of the draw…(2) Kerber will start against the former Slam winner Schiavone…Seeds Kerber, Jankovic and Stosur received wildcards…Also pulling from the event were Victoria Azarenka, Eugenie Bouchard, Zarina Diyas, Sabine Lisicki, Ajla Tomljanovic, and Coco Vandeweghe…No former champs are in the field…In last year’s final Lisicki topped Karolina Pliskova.

Tough starts for (1) Venus in the 2nd rd. vs. the Bastad runner-up Barthel, (4) Cornet vs. Wickmayer, (5) Giorgi vs. Cibulkova, and (2) Svitolina vs. Rybarikova…Veterans Daniela Hantuchova and Francesca Schiavone also floating around…Wildcards went to Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay and Ipek Soylu, and the No. 4 seed Cornet…Pulling from the event were Belinda Bencic, Alexandra Dulgheru, Kristina Mladenovic, Monica Niculescu and Flavia Pennetta…Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat No. 2 Roberta Vinci in last year’s final…Pavlyuchenkova (2010) is the lone returning former champ in the field.

“Yesterday I was feeling really tired, but my physio did a great job to get me ready for today’s match,” said Mahut, who also reached the doubles final. “It was a very tense first set, but after one-all he was missing some shots and I felt more and more confident.”

Notes: The tournament makes the switch to grass as part of the tour’s extended grasscourt season…Tough starts for (1) Nadal against the Baghdatis-Rosol winner, and (8) Troicki vs. Coric…Wildcards went to Germans Tommy Haas, Maximilian Marterer and Alexander Zverev…Pulling from the event were Julien Benneteau and Jiri Vesely…The Bryan brothers are the top seeds in doubles…Nadal (2007,’05) is the lone returning former champ in the field.

Serena’s draw to the semifinals could go through Stosur, last year’s finalist Errani then the former French champ Ivanovic to meet either Sharapova or Wozniacki in the semis…

Notes: A Czech offensive in Prague with the first three seeds from the home country…(8) Giorgi starts against the resurgent Wickmayer…Wildcards were awarded to Czechs Denisa Allertova and Klara Koukalova, and Slovak Kristina Schmiedlova…Pulling from the event were former champ Magdalena Rybarikova and Carla Suarez Navarro…Pliskova is the top seed in singles and doubles…In last year’s final Brit Heather Watson beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova…Former champs in the field are Watson (2014)and Safarova (2013-12).

Not a lot of floating talent in the field, with a potential tough start for (16) Watson vs. the riser Vekic; (1) Bouchard could face Stephens in the 3rd rd…Wildcards went to Bouchard and Americans Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sachia Vickery…

All the hubbub surrounds Serena, but Venus is not ending her boycott since last playing in 2001. “I made my schedule up,” Venus said about missing IW again. “I’m entered in Miami, and that’s pretty much what it is. I haven’t really given a lot of thought to it. I have just been focusing on this year…I just respect every decision [Serena] makes, pretty much. It’s nothing complicated about it.”

Notes: Loaded field with a slew of floaters testing seeds early…Li Na out with a knee injury…The Top 8 seeds receive first-round byes…