Tennis returns to New Zealand in the opening week of the 2024 WTA season as the ASB Classic pools together one of the most competitive fields for a 250 tournament.
The ASB Classic is played on outdoor hard courts at the ASB Tennis Centre - one of the country's oldest tennis facilities - and will serve as a preliminary tournament for the stars of the women's tour before they head to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
A 32-player singles field will fly to Auckland, with main draw action set to begin on New Year's Day and running till January 7, 2024. The attention in the first week of the tennis calendar will be diverted to more prestigious events like the United Cup and Brisbane.
However, there is no shortage of star presence in the field in Auckland, judging by the entry list released by the tournament. The reigning champion, Coco Gauff, is returning to New Zealand to defend her title.
The current World No. 3 will be joined by former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina, who hasn't played since the US Open. At least nine players in the draw are ranked in the world's Top 50 with a blend of youth and veterans.
These incluide Lesia Tsurenko, Emma Navarro, Marie Bouzkova, Xinyu Wang, Petra Martic, Varvara Gracheva and Anna Blinkova. The tournament has named three wild card entrants, all of whom have gone to returning players (either from injury or indefinite break).
Two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki will have a shot at winning his first title in these parts as she embarks on her first trip to New Zealand since coming from retirement. British tennis star Emma Raducanu and USA's Amanda Anisimova are the other beneficiaries.
Remarkably, 22 players who have earned direct entry into the main draw are all ranked in the world's Top 100 highlighting the strength in depth of the playing field in Auckland. You can find the entire entry list for the 2024 ASB Classic down below.
2024 ASB Classic Auckland WTA Entry List:
| Seed | Name | Entry Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Coco Gauff | 3 |
| 2. | Elina Svitolina | 25 |
| 3. | Lesia Tsurenko | 31 |
| 4. | Emma Navarro | 32 |
| 5. | Marie Bouzkova | 34 |
| 6. | Xinyu Wang | 36 |
| 7. | Petra Martic | 40 |
| 8. | Varvara Gracheva | 43 |
| Anna Blinkova | 50 | |
| Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | 57 | |
| Magdalena Frech | 63 | |
| Rebecca Masarova | 64 | |
| Yulia Putintseva | 68 | |
| Xiyu Wang | 71 | |
| Elina Avanesyan | 74 | |
| Yue Yuan | 77 | |
| Emina Bektas | 87 | |
| Kayla Kay | 89 | |
| Jaqueline Cristian | 91 | |
| Linda Fruhvirtova | 93 | |
| Diane Parry | 94 | |
| Claire Liu | 99 | |
| Caroline Wozniacki | ||
| Emma Raducanu | ||
| Amanda Anisimova |
0 Comments