Everlasting Venus Williams takes Adelaide wild card
The inaugural Adelaide International at the brand-new Memorial Drive Tennis Centre will take place between January 12-18, serving as the last preparation for the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur are the leaders of the pack in the men's draw and the WTA one is even stronger, with four top-10 stars and 19 players from the top-30! The American veteran Venus Williams joins the action as well thanks to a wild card, opening the season in Brisbane (with an invitation as well) before heading to Adelaide and Melbourne. Venus is one of the most experienced players left on the WTA Tour but she is still not ready to give up, starting the season from just outside the top-50.
Since 1997, Venus didn't finish in the top-100 only in 2011, playing on a high level between 2014-17 before slowing down a little bit in the last couple of years. Despite that, the veteran is ready to embrace another season, currently standing as the second-oldest player on the WTA list behind the Hungarian Greta Arn who isn't ranked in the top-400. Between 1998-2016, Venus claimed 49 WTA titles from 83 finals, lifting five Wimbledon crowns from nine title matches at the All England Club and conquering 23 Majors overall in all three categories.
"As former world number 1s and with 23 Grand Slam titles between them, Novak and Venus will be looking to start the summer off strongly, and I am sure the Adelaide crowd will get behind them. It's great for both the tournament and fans that Novak and Venus have chosen to compete in Adelaide ahead of the Australian Open. We're looking forward to seeing some tough matches here as they prepare for the season's first Grand Slam event," South Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway said.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2PkkEL7
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