Tennis latest; Sophie Ferguson given wild card for next month’s Brisbane International
The 24-year-old Sophie Ferguson of Australia received a wild card entry into the main draw of the 2011 Brisbane International on Monday.
The right hander who made her debut on the WTA tour back in 2002 is currently ranked number 109 in the South African Airways WTA list.
She got the second wildcard behind Jelena Dokic and the two of them will join the fellow Fed Cup team-members Anastasia Rodionova, Jarmila Groth and Samantha Stosur in the main draw.
Ferguson who currently resides in Sydney recorded her best performance in a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open back in 2005 where she made her way into the second round before losing at the hands of Nadia Petrova in three sets.
The final match score was 4–6, 6–0, 6–1. At the 2007 year’s opening major tournament in Melbourne, she got the better of former world number eight Ai Sugiyama before eventually bundling out of the event.
Her 2010 season highlights include her successful qualification into the main draw of the French Open at Roland Garros. The 1.77 meters tall made it into the main draw of the clay court major event after toppling Olga Savchuk, Lourdes Dominguez Lino and
Lesya Tsurenko. It was her second appearance in the main draw since 2005. In the opening round, Sophie thrashed out Petra Kvitova in three sets. The final match score was 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. The professional tennis ace from Australia was next defeated in two sets
at the hands of eventual champion Francesca Schiavone with a score line of 6-2, 6-2.
Craig Morris, who is the head of women’s tennis in Australia, while commenting on Sophie’s wild card entry in the main draw of Brisbane International said on Monday, "Sophie has had a great year in 2010 being named in the Fed Cup squad
for the first time since 2005 and recording a career-high ranking of number 109 in July. She backed this up with some strong performances at the Australian Open wildcard play-off where she reached the semi-finals and I know she will be looking to build on
this form in Brisbane.”
Samantha Stosur who is currently ranked number six in the world will begin the event next month as hot favourite to win the title; however she will be given a tough time from the likes of Nadia Petrova, Marion Bartoli and Shahar Peer.
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