The Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, a WTA Premier 5 event, has announced its four main draw wild card recipients, with former champions Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka joining Sloane Stephens and Marketa Vondrousova at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
With the Western & Southern Open featuring as the premier stop on the US Open Series ahead of the final major of the season, the WTA Premier 5 event in Cincinnati awarded its four main draw wildcards to some of the top talent on the WTA. 2011 champion and five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, still returning from a 15-month doping suspension in April, was gifted a wildcard as well as 2013 winner and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who is returning to the tour after giving birth to her first son, Leo, in December.
Joining two of the biggest names in sport in Mason will be talented American Sloane Stephens, who returned from a nearly year-long foot injury at Wimbledon earlier this month, and big-hitting Czech rising star Marketa Vondrousova. The qualifying wildcards will be announced closer to the tournament’s beginning.
@CincyTennis announces MD wildcards for 2011 champ Maria Sharapova, 2013 champ Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens, and Marketa Vondrusova.
— Thomas Cluck (@ThomasCluck1) July 27, 2017
“The addition of these players add to our already strong player field,” said Tournament Director Andre Silva. “We anticipate the WTA’s No. 1 ranking to be on the line during the Western & Southern Open, and adding players of this caliber will make the battle for the top spot even more compelling.
Sharapova and Azarenka join an already impressive field at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, with 39 0f the world’s top 44 slated to battle for the prestigious WTA Premier 5 title in America’s Midwest this summer.
Adding further intriguing to a stellar field with only two-time winner and 23-time major champion Serena Williams missing due to the expected birth of her child later this fall is that the WTA’s number one ranking will very likely be on the line as newly minted world number one Karolina Pliskova, the defending champion in Cincinnati, looks to fend off 2015 finalist Simona Halep and two-time runner-up Angelique Kerber.
The 2017 Western & Southern Open begins Friday, August 11th with the official draw party at the Lindner Family Tennis Center before qualifying action gets underway the following day Saturday, August 12th. The tournament runs until Sunday, August 20th. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit cincytennis.com.
