Memorial Drive women’s event expected to have strongest field outside Grand Slams

The professional tennis event in Adelaide in 2020 is expected to attract one of the strongest women’s fields in the world — and the men’s event won’t be bad either.

Asheligh Barty could be one of the draw cards for Adelaide’s WTA event next summer. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

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Memorial Drive’s 2020 WTA event is expected to have the strongest field outside of the four Grand Slams and will have a bigger purse than the men’s event played at the venue the same week.

The tennis calendar will be altered because of the ATP Cup — a team event that begins in Sydney for the first time next summer — with Adelaide effectively taking over Sydney’s men’s and women’s events in the week leading into the Australian Open.

The ATP Cup means there’s a question mark over how many elite male players come to Adelaide.

If they are still involved in the Sydney event they may skip Adelaide; if they get bundled out they may look for more matches.

But the women’s event, which will be in the premier category on the WTA Tour, is expected to have the majority of the world’s top-10 players.

Ashleigh Barty of Australia plays a shot in the Womens Singles Final against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during day seven of the 2019 Sydney International in January. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

The 32-player field is likely to have a cut-off around a world ranking as low as around the 30-mark for the main draw — making it the most difficult event on the circuit in which to gain a direct entry.

The cut-off for the men’s event when it was held in Sydney was generally around the 50 or 60-mark in the world but the impact of the ATP Cup could see that go either way in Adelaide.

This year’s purse for the women’s event at Sydney International was US823,000 while the men’s event was around $300,000 less than that.

The strength of the women’s field puts it on top of the tree when it comes to women’s sport in South Australia alongside the Australian Open golf tournament, but arguably with more big international names.

Australia’s top-ranked woman, World No. 13 Ash Barty, is expected to be one of the draw cards next year.

It comes as organisers are expecting the event to grow in future years, with plans expected to be revealed for the event including:

AN earlier final, most likely to be on a Friday or a Saturday, to give the players a breather ahead of the gruelling Australian Open starting the following week

MORE covered courts in future years, to make sure players can train and prepare for the Australian Open in case of rain, and

MORE improvement to the centre court and the stands, which will be refurbished while a roof is being constructed ahead of the 2020 event.

The centre court will hold around 5000 people — similar to this year’s Davis Cup tie against Bosnia-Herzegovina — with temporary stands being constructed on the eastern and western flanks.

There will be at least another four courts where matches will be played, flanked by temporary stands similar to those being used on the outside courts of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.