Wimbledon champion Simona Halep to head back to SA to headline inaugural WTA tournament
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep is the first player to commit to Adelaide’s January 2020 tennis tournament, in a major coup for organisers of the inaugural event.
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Wimbledon champion Simona Halep will be the face of a major women’s tennis tournament in Adelaide early next year.
Halep, a former world one player who demolished Serena Williams in just 56 minutes to clinch her second grand slam last month, has committed to play in the inaugural Adelaide International, a WTA Premier level tournament at the revamped Memorial Drive from January 12.
And much credit for the capture can go to one of South Australia’s most famous sporting sons, Darren Cahill, who coached the 27-year-old Romanian for four years until last November, including to the 2018 French Open crown.
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“It was an easy call,” Halep, who has amassed an extraordinary $33US million career winnings, told The Advertiser.
“Darren didn’t have to convince me much but I do like to go back to places that I have enjoyed before and Adelaide was a place I loved when I spent a training week there two years ago.
“Last time I rented an apartment at Henley Beach and it felt like I was on holidays while doing a lot of great training getting ready for the Australian Open. It is a really beautiful city and the people are great.”
Playing a competitive tournament - it will be a high-ranking 30-woman draw - the week immediately before the Open has great merit, she said.
“Everyone is different but for me it matters more that I’m playing matches and hopefully winning some matches so I can get some confidence before Melbourne. I know the conditions in Melbourne very well and with Adelaide being very similar it makes perfect sense to play the event and try to do as well as I can.”
Adelaide and Melbourne will be only the Australian tournaments Halep will play next year.
The $2 million prizemoney tournament will be a combined (men’s) ATP and WTA event from Sunday, January 12 to 18, running over 12 sessions plus a qualifying day on January 11.
About 100 of the world’s best tennis players plus hundreds of coaches and support staff are expected to converge upon SA.
The Adelaide tournament replaces the Sydney International - part of a global tennis calendar shake-up - where this year’s singles winners were Australian number one Alex de Minaur and Petra Kvitova
In addition to matches being played on the Memorial Drive centre court — the centrepiece of a $10 million facilities upgrade — four additional match courts including an adjoining, and sunken, Next Generation club showcourt will be used.
The tournament will be broadcast live on free-to-air TV and distributed to all major international markets.