Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt to play next year’s Brisbane International
Australia’s two active Grand Slam champions, Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt, have confirmed that they will start next season by participating in the Brisbane International.
Two WTA and three ATP tournaments are held in the first week of the season. The other event for women is organized in Auckland, with Chennai and Doha being the host cities for men.
Australian players prefer to begin the season in their own country and prepare in similar conditions for the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open.
Stosur will be participating for the fourth time at the Brisbane International. She will fight with two former world number ones, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, for the title there. The 2011 US Open champion was beaten by
Iveta Benesova in straight sets in this year’s event.
Making conformation of participating at the Brisbane event, Stosur said, "It's always fun to play at home. You don't get many opportunities to play in your home country and the state that you've grown up in."
She added, "I have had a couple of good wins at the Brisbane International, I would like more, so hopefully that will change in 2013."
On the other hand, former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, will be taking part in the Brisbane International for the first time in his career. He used to warm up for the Australian Open by playing Hopman Cup and Sydney International
until this season.
Hewitt said, "I love playing the Australian tournaments and I have heard so many good things about the tournament. I am looking forward to kicking off the New Year there.”
The Australian star will join the world number three and this year’s US Open champion, Andy Murray, for a tough competition at this ATP World tour 250 hard court event.
Commenting on the level of competition at the tournament, Hewitt stated, "It's always a tough field (in Brisbane) ... so there will be a lot of tough matches and I want to get as many tough matches as possible."
Hewitt is Australia’s last star player since retirement of Patrick Rafter. The former top ranked player is a winner of two Grand Slam title. He captured US Open title in 2001 and Wimbledon crown in 2002.
Currently ranked 105th in the world, Hewitt has always failed in the title quest at his home Grand Slam. The 31-year-old reached the final in 2005 but lost in straight sets to Russia’s Marat Safin.
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