Pegula, Anisimova, Mboko lead stacked Queen’s entry list

Seventeen of the world’s Top 30 players have entered the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club, London — the first grass-court WTA 500 of the season, beginning on June 8.

Three Top 10 players head the list — two-time grass-court titlist Jessica Pegula (Berlin 2024, Bad Homburg 2025); Amanda Anisimova, last year’s runner-up at both Queen’s and Wimbledon; and 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, who will compete in her second career WTA main draw on grass. Last year, Mboko made the second round of Wimbledon as a lucky loser on her professional grass-court debut; the Canadian teenager has surged up the rankings since after winning titles in Montreal and Hong Kong last year, and reaching finals in Adelaide and Doha this year.

Five further Top 20 players have also entered: Wimbledon semifinalist Belinda Bencic, Beijing finalist Linda Noskova, Madrid champion Marta Kostyuk — one of the most improved players of 2026, currently on a 12-match winning streak — Australian Open quarterfinalist Iva Jovic and 2024 Bad Homburg champion Diana Shnaider.

The initial main-draw entry list is rounded out by two-time grass-court titlist Liudmila Samsonova (Berlin 2021, ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2024), former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, 2024 Berlin finalist Anna Kalinskaya, Hailey Baptiste, Marie Bouzkova, Sorana Cirstea, Jaqueline Cristian, Ann Li and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, the British No. 1.

The strength of the list is such that No. 30-ranked Raducanu is the last direct acceptance. The initial alternates to the main draw are as follows:

1. Cristina Bucsa, the Merida champion
2. Zheng Qinwen, last year’s top seed
3. Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros champion and a two-time grass-court titlist
4. Karolina Pliskova, the former World No. 1, 2021 Wimbledon runner-up and three-time grass-court titlist (using a special ranking)
5. Alexandra Eala, the 2025 Eastbourne finalist
6. Laura Siegemund, the 2025 Wimbledon quarterfinalist
7. Maria Sakkari, the former World No. 3
8. McCartney Kessler, the 2025 Birmingham champion
9. Tatjana Maria, the defending champion who sliced her way past Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys and Anisimova to last year’s trophy
10. Sonay Kartal, the British No. 2

Former Grand Slam champions Sofia Kenin and Bianca Andreescu have also entered, and are the 16th alternate and 35th alternate respectively.

In 2025, the tournament returned to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz after a gap of 52 years.