Apia International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

Star-studded line up heading to Sydney

Thursday 4 December 2008 29 Comments »

Nine-time grand slam winner Serena Williams and world no.7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga headline an outstanding playing field for the Medibank International Sydney in January.
Tournament Director Craig Watson today announced one of the strongest fields in the event’s long and illustrious history, which includes 13 of the world’s top 20 women and five of the world’s top 20 men.

Three of the world’s top four women – Serena Williams, Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva head up the women’s field. They will be joined be fellow top ten players Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Also heading to Sydney in the New Year are a number of rising stars in women’s tennis – Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Alize Cornet and Dominika Cibulkova.

Crowd favourites Amelie Mauresmo, Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama are also in the official acceptance list.

The men’s draw boasts two top ten players, French duo Tsonga and Gilles Simon, along with world no.11 David Nalbandian, Igor Andreev, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Robredo, Mardy Fish and Richard Gasquet.

Defending champion Dmitry Tursunov, Spanish Davis Cup star Feliciano Lopez and four time Medibank International Sydney champion and Australian no.1 Lleyton Hewitt (wildcard) have also been included in the field.

Watson is delighted with the strength of the field that will assemble at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre on Sunday 11 January, 2009.

“We have an incredible main draw cut-off of 40 for the women and 41 for the men, which we are thrilled about.

“The crowds in Sydney are in store for some outstanding tennis, with the world’s best women competing and Aussie favourite Hewitt taking on the likes of Tsonga and Nalbandian.”

Men’s and women’s wildcards for the event are yet to be decided (with the exception of Hewitt), but will be announced over the coming month.

Tickets are now on sale for the Medibank International Sydney through Ticketek, with ground passes priced at just $9.90 and reserved centre court seating starting at just $24.90. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketek.com.au or 1300 888 104.

Official Medibank International Sydney line-up (men’s)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA    (no.6)
Gilles Simon FRA        (no.7)
David Nalbandian ARG    (no.11)
Igor Andreev RUS        (no.19)
Tomas Berdych CZE        (no.20)
Tommy Robredo ESP    (no.21)
Dmitry Tursunov RUS    (no.22)
Mardy Fish USA        (no.24)
Richard Gasquet FRA    (no.25)
Radek Stepanek CZE    (no.27)
Feliciano Lopez ESP        (no.30)
Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA    (no.31)
Rainer Schuettler GER    (no.33)
Jurgen Melzer AUT        (no.34)
Andreas Seppi ITA        (no.35)
Mario Ancic CRO        (no.36)
Jarkko Nieminen FIN    (no.37)
Michael Llodra FRA        (no.40)
Simone Bolelli ITA        (no.41)
Lleyton Hewitt AUS        (no.67) Wildcard

Official Medibank International Sydney line-up (women’s)

Serena Williams USA    (no.2)
Dinara Safina RUS        (no.3)
Elena Dementieva RUS    (no.4)
Vera Zvonareva RUS        (no.7)
Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS    (no.8)
Agnieszka Radwanska POL    (no.10)
Nadia Petrova RUS        (no.11)
Caroline Wozniacki DEN    (no.12)
Victoria Azarenka BLR    (no.15)
Alize Cornet FRA        (no.16)
Marion Bartoli FRA        (no.17)
Dominika Cibulkova SVK    (no.19)
Katarina Srebotnik SLO    (no. 20)
Daniela Hantuchova SVK    (no.21)
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP(no.22)
Na Li CHN            (no.23)
Amelie Mauresmo FRA    (no.24)
Sybille Bammer AUT        (no.26)
Kaia Kanepi EST        (no.27)
Maria Kirilenko RUS        (no.29)
Ai Sugiyama JPN        (no.31)
Alisa Kleynanova RUS    (no.32)
Sorana Cirstea ROU        (no.36)
Shuai Peng CHN       (no.40)

Tags: Agnieszka Radwanska, Ai Sugiyama, Alisa Kleynanova, Alize Cornet, Amelie Mauresmo, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Andreas Seppi, Caroline Wozniacki, Daniela Hantuchova, David Nalbandian, Dinara Safina, Dmitry Tursunov, Dominika Cibulkova., Elena Dementieva, Feliciano Lopez, Gilles Simon, Igor Andreev, Jarkko Nieminen, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Jurgen Melzer, Kaia Kanepi, Katarina Srebotnik, Lleyton Hewitt, Mardy Fish, Maria Kirilenko, Mario Ancic, Marion Bartoli, Michael Llodra, Na Li, Nadia Petrova, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Radek Stepanek, Rainer Schuettler, Richard Gasquet, Serena Williams, Shuai Peng, Simone Bolelli, Sorana Cirstea, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sybille Bammer, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Robredo, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka

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