Iveta Benesova signs up for Shenzhen Longgang Gemdale Open 2013 – Tennis News
Iveta Benesova, the 29-year-old Czech, will feature in the Shenzhen Longgang Gemdale Open in 2013. It is the first edition of this tournament and the latest entry into the Premier events of Women Tennis Association Tours.
The 81st ranked Czech will join a very talented squad led by the Chinese number one, Li Na. The tournament will be played at the outdoor hard courts Shenzhen Longgang Sports Centre. The scheduled date of the main round
clashes is the first day of the New Year. The overall prize money for the event is US$ 500,000.
Benesova who recently got married to Jurgen Melzer hasn’t decided to quit tennis despite a cumbersome season in 2012. She lost in the quarter-final of the Brisbane International before bowing out in the second qualifier at the
Apia Sydney International.
However, her performance in the opening Grand Slam event of the year, the Australian Open, lifted her morale. She ended up in the fourth round of the event and lost to the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka. She outfoxed
two seeded players in the second and third round respectively which was a major achievement considering her overall performances in the warm-ups.
Benesova reached the second round at the Qatar Ladies Open and the Dubai Duty Free Championships. She was trashed in the opening round at Indian Wells but did well to feature in the third round at Miami. The topsy turvy performances
continued for her at the clay court season; first round exits in the Family Circle Cup, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Mutua Madrid Open.
A rare victory in Rome wasn’t good enough to change luck for the Czech professional, who lost five matches in a row after that; losing in the French Open, AEGON Classic, UNICEF Open, Wimbledon and the Citi Open. She couldn’t qualify
for the main round of the Rogers Cup at Montreal and Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.
Benesova played her final two matches in August; lost both of them. First one was contested in the opening round of the Texas Tennis Open at Dallas whilst the following defeat was at the US Open in New York. It will be interesting
to see if she can benefit from the layoff and improve her record in 2013.
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