21 March 2016 | Tennis ACT

Main draw singles and doubles action is set to commence on Tuesday at the ACT Claycourt International #2, with a host of Australian’s looking to make an impact. $25,000 prizemoney will again be on offer this week at the Canberra Tennis Centre.

Canberra’s Alison Bai will face fellow Australian and number seven seed Arina Rodionova (VIC) in the first round. The pair have only met on one previous occasion back in 2014, with Rodionova winning that encounter in straight sets.

Lizette Cabrera (QLD) will take on sixth seed Erika Sema (JPN), while wildcard Gabriella Da-Silva Fick faces eighth seed Varatchaya Wongteanchai (THA) in the opening round. Storm Sanders (WA) and Jessica Moore (WA) will also be in action on Tuesday.

Last week’s champion Eri Hozumi (JPN) will face Ana Vrljic (CRO) in the first round on Wednesday, while finalist Destanee Aiava will start her campaign against a qualifier. Aiava faces a potential second round match up with Rodionova or Bai.

First round doubles will also be played tomorrow with Ashleigh Barty (QLD) and Rodionova looking to take back to back titles. Alison Bai will team up again with Jia-Jing Lu (CHN), while Kaitlin Staines has been granted a wildcard into main draw doubles with Kaylah McPhee (QLD).

In the final round of qualifying today, Tammi Patterson (VIC) was the only Australian to move into the main draw after defeating Japan’s Aiko Yoshitomo 6-1, 6-4.

Main draw singles and doubles will commence on Tuesday at 10am with free entry into the Canberra Tennis Centre

Tournament draws and the order of play for ACT Claycourt International #2 can be found here

Live scoring is available here. Live streaming is available here

The ACT Claycourt International #1 and #2 will be held at the Canberra Tennis Centre from March 12-27. Each tournament will offer $25,000 in prizemoney and will be held on the recently redeveloped European clay courts.

The tournaments were announced in May, 2015 as part of the Tennis ACT calendar of events secured through the redevelopment of the Canberra Tennis Centre.

The redeveloped Canberra Tennis Centre features 28 tennis courts – including synthetic grass, Italian clay and hardcourt surfaces – as well as four ANZ Tennis Hot Shots courts.