The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has confirmed today that World No. 19 Karolina Pliskova has been awarded a wild card into the main draw of the Aegon Open Nottingham, starting Saturday, 4 June.
With two days to go before qualifying for the WTA International tournament starts at the Nottingham Tennis Centre, Pliskova is the latest high-profile addition to an already world-class field that includes two former World No. 1 players, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, as well as British No. 1 Johanna Konta.
Pliskova, who has won four WTA titles and helped the Czech Republic retain their Fed Cup title in 2015, climbed to a career-high ranking of seven in August last year after reaching the final of the Aegon Classic Birmingham.
The 24-year-old will be competing in the Aegon Open for the first time, but she has enjoyed success at the Nottingham Tennis Centre in the past, having reached the final of the Aegon Trophy, a ITF pro circuit event, in 2013.
Speaking on the announcement, Pliskova said: “I’m excited to be returning to Nottingham to play on their fantastic grass courts. For me the Aegon Open is a new event, but so much of it will be familiar to me and I’ve heard a lot of good things about the tournament after a successful first year in 2015. To be included in such a strong field at the start of the grass-court season will be great for my Wimbledon preparations, so I hope to do well there again.”
The Aegon Open Nottingham (WTA) Tournament Director, Rebecca James, said: “It is fabulous news that Karolina is joining our world-class field of players in what is the strongest line up of players that the city has seen in recent years. As a current top 20 player and former world number seven, Karolina has also shown great grass court form reaching the final at the Aegon Classic Birmingham last year so the fans can certainly look forward to more exciting action on the court.”
Tara McGregor-Woodhams, Head of Brand and Sponsorship Aegon UK, commented: “The Aegon Open Nottingham was a fantastic addition to the grass court calendar last year and we are delighted to welcome many of the stars of the WTA to the city to begin their grass-court preparations.”
The Aegon Open Nottingham will see two tournaments take place in June, with the women’s WTA event being staged from 4-12 June 2016. Both tournaments will be an integral part of the British grass-court season, which features 11 international grass-court tournaments in eight venues across the country.
Fans can watch action at the Aegon Open Nottingham for as little as £5. Go to https://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-open-nottingham for more details.
For information on the hospitality packages on offer at The Aegon Open Nottingham head to http://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-open-nottingham/nottingham-hospitality/ or contact Elliot Sheasby on aegonopen@lta.org.uk
Earlier this year the LTA announced exciting changes to the three week 2017 grass court tournament calendar. Nottingham will host a combined men’s and women’s tour-level tournament in the same week for the first time in 44 years. The pre-existing ATP 250 tournament will move back to Eastbourne, merging with the WTA Premier Aegon International to form a combined event (as it was from 2009-2014) featuring the following format: a 28-player main draw men’s event and 48-player main draw for the women staged across nine days. Other changes include a doubling of prize money at the Aegon Trophy Series (ATP Challenger & ITF Women’s Pro Circuit) creating the highest value circuit at this level in world tennis.