Karl Budge: 'We've had a request from Venus' team to have a Tuesday start'
The seven-time singles Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has finished inside the top-40 despite being among four oldest players on the year-end WTA list and she has no intentions for slowing down, hoping for another good season in 2019 that she will kick off in Auckland at the ASB Classic. The 38-year-old played in Auckland between 2014-17, winning the title in 2015 and hoping for a similar run in three weeks time. Williams should be ranked 6th behind Caroline Wozniacki, Julia Goerges, Su-Wei Hsieh, Petra Martic and Barbora Strycova and she would love to start the tournament on Tuesday, as it was confirmed by the organizers.
At the moment, the preliminary plan is to go with Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Eugenie Bouchard on Monday while Julia Goerges and Venus Williams should open the campaign on Tuesday, but that all could change after the draw comes out. Tournament director Karl Budge confirmed that Venus' team asked for her to play on Tuesday but he can't make the decision before the draw comes out. Still, he will do his best to arrange the schedule and allow Venus to compete on the second day, together with some other high-profile seed, in what could be her final appearance in Auckland.
"We've had a request from her team to have a Tuesday start," Budge said. "Obviously, until the draw is out we can't confirm that, but we will try to work in with Venus's team wherever we can. With the amount of talent we've got available, if we are able to play Venus on a Tuesday, maybe she's paired up with someone like our defending champion Julia Goerges, while the Monday might feature Eugenie Bouchard, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka on center court. We don't know how much longer Venus is going to play for.
She's been a wonderful player, but we want to honor her and she's been considered as Queen V for a long time in Auckland. I'm sure the New Zealand public want to get out and thank someone who's done a lot for this tournament. She's won it, made the final another time and helped us secure her sister Serena in the past too. We've got a very special relationship with Venus and I'm not sure there's an athlete I respect more than her. What she's done off the court is so incredibly impressive, her on court record is amazing too."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2ED07NY
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