Contestants surging for qualifying spots in the ASB Classic main draw – Tennis News
As the 2012 WTA (Women’s tennis Association) season is about to kick off in 10 days, players have started to get themselves ready for the first event of the year in Auckland, New Zealand, the ASB Classic. The WTA Tour event will begin from the second to
the seventh of January next year on the hard courts of the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland.
After the WTA announced the full field of the tournament last week, race for the qualifying spots has gotten even intense. 15 of the top-100 contestants on the Tour will be competing for main round spots at the ASB Classic event, with only top-67 players
earning a direct entry to the main draw. Former world number one, Venus Williams, has already delayed her comeback to the professional circuit by announcing her withdrawal from the ASB Classic earlier this week.
Former finalist at Auckland, Aravane Rezai of France, has also entered the qualifying draw of the tournament, along with Alize Cornet and Sofia Arvidsson, as the regular attendants of the event. World number 65, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, is the highest
ranked competitor in the qualifying field in Auckland, followed by 70th ranked Italian, Alberta Brianti.
Richard Palmer, the tournament director of ASB Classic, was very excited after he received the list of players willing to play the qualifying rounds of the event from WTA. He believes that the level of competition will improve a lot with some new faces in
the field along with the top performers on the professional circuit.
“I thought to myself that some tournaments would be happy to have that line up as their main draw. Fans can now look forward to eight days of top quality women's tennis,” Palmer said.
28 competitors will go through the qualifying rounds of the tournament and only four of them will earn a place in the main draw. Four wildcard entries to the main rounds have also been allocated in the tournament and most probably will be awarded to the
local players. The qualifying rounds of the ASB Classic will start from 31stof December and will take three days to conclude before the main round encounters start from 2nd of the month.
The tournament will be extremely significant in players’ preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam event, the Australian Open, which will start from 16th of January. The contestants of the ASB Classic will eye upon getting their rhythm and
winning momentum before taking off their Grand Slam campaign at Melbourne.
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