The draws for the inaugural Adelaide International have been revealed and some exciting match-ups are in store this upcoming week at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.
Here are some of the main talking points ahead of the start of main draw action on Sunday night.
AUSSIE STAR POWER
The home crowd will be delighted to see top seeds Ashleigh Barty and Alex de Minaur take to the courts in Adelaide in the build-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.
Barty, the world No.1 and 2019 WTA Player of the Year, is looking to win a first tour-level singles title on home soil, and become the first Australian woman to do so since Jarmila Wolfe won Hobart in 2011.
Full men’s and women’s singles draws HERE
De Minaur, who is leading the Aussie squad at the ongoing ATP Cup in Sydney, is at a career-high No.18 in the world, thanks to a stellar 2019 that saw him capture three titles. The 20-year-old has a bye in the first round and could face his compatriot Jordan Thompson in what would be a highly-anticipated round two, should the Sydney-native move past Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Barty also has a bye and awaits the winner of the clash between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Anett Kontaveit in the second round.
https://twitter.com/AdelaideTennis/status/1215820700877049857
MUST-SEE FIRST ROUNDS
There are many mouth-watering opening matches across both the women’s and men’s draws. Here are some standout showdowns to look out for in round one:
WTA
Angelique Kerber (GER) v Sloane Stephens (USA)
Kiki Bertens (NED)[5] v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)[6] v Hsieh Su-Wei
ATP
Gilles Simon (FRA) v Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
Taylor Fritz (USA)[5] v Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)[7] v Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
MARKETA RETURNS
The Adelaide International will witness the return of world No.16 Marketa Vondrousova, who is back on a tennis court after a six-month injury lay-off, in which she underwent left wrist surgery. The 20-year-old Czech lefty, seeded eighth in Adelaide, posted the biggest result of her career when she made the French Open final last year. She sustained her wrist problem at Wimbledon three weeks later, and her opening round defeat in London ended up being her last match of the season.
“I had surgery four months ago and I haven’t played for half a year, so it was very tough, but I’m all healthy now, so it’s good. I’m pain-free,” a smiling Vondrousova told adelaideinternational.com.au on Saturday.
Join us live from the Adelaide International Draw Ceremony with Marketa Vondrousova and Jordan Thompson.
Posted by Adelaide International on Friday, 10 January 2020
NEXT GEN OUT IN FULL FORCE
The top three seeds in the men’s draw – De Minaur (20), Felix Auger-Aliassime (19) and Andrey Rublev (23) – and six of the top eight seeds, are all aged 23-and-under, in yet another sign that the tour’s ‘Next Genners’ are ready to make their move in 2020.
Others to look out for in that age group in the draw include No.5 seed Taylor Fritz, No.6 seed Cristian Garin, No.8 seed Reilly Opelka and Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.
HALEP SET FOR HER 2020 KICK-OFF
Back with her Australian coach Darren Cahill full-time in her corner, Romanian former world No.1 Simona Halep is ready to commence her 2020 season, choosing Adelaide as her first event of the new year. After spending several weeks of her preparation in Dubai, Halep arrived early to Adelaide, where she’s been putting in the hard yards with her team. The two-time Grand Slam champion is seeded No.2 this week and awaits the winner of the first round match between home favourite Ajla Tomljanovic and a qualifier/lucky loser.
https://twitter.com/Simona_Halep/status/1214152770305110021