Victoria Azarenka takes wild card to play WTA tournament in...
Victoria Azarenka added a new tournament to her schedule. The 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion will compete at the Mexican Open in Acapulco that starts on the 25th of February. The Belarusian will play in Acapulco for the second time after 2016, when she lost to Dominika Cibulkova in the second round after defeating Polona Hercog in the first. This year so far Azarenka lost to Venus Williams at the ASB Classic first round in Auckland, to Laura Siegemund in the Australian Open first round and to the world No. 2 Petra Kvitova in the St. Petersburg second round after defeating Margarita Gasparyan in the opening stage. Azarenka, a world No. 48, won 20 career-titles and after Steffi Graf and Kim Clijsters, she became the third player who achieved the Sunshine Double (winning Indian Wells and Miami) in 2016.
The second wild card invitation was granted to the local player Renata Zarazúa, who upset Krystina Pliskova 6-3 6-4 in the first round last year.
On the men's side the wild cards were granded to Lucas Pouille, David Ferrer and the 23-year-old local player Gerardo López.
Andy Murray should have been the top seed in Montpellier. Speaking about his absence, the Tournament Director Sebastien Grosjean said: "I know it well. I've seen it happen on the circuit. And I know well his agent. It matters a lot, it is a no brainer. We made contact in September last year. After his long absence, he needed to get back in touch with the competition. We had his agrement fairly quickly. How much does it cost to get a champion as Murray? The amount remains confidential. But the sporting interest has takern precedence over the financial interest. He wanted to play and had very good echoes of the tournament. Compared to other events indoor, our tool of work is exceptional. Atter that, on the puely financial, I can just tell you that he had made a gesture. Rasically, he came to play. The money was not his priority. Once this money recovered as a result of the package, have you reinvested? No, because his package was too late to contact other players. In addition there was a real desire to provide invitations to Ugo (Humbert)."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2I91M1a
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