Defending champion Kimberly Birrell (Gold Coast, Qld), Daria Saville (Melbourne, Vic) and world No.94 Yafan Wang (CHN) will lead the women’s field at the City of Playford Tennis International at the Playford Tennis Centre from Sunday 22 to Sunday 29 October 2023.
The Australian Pro Tour event, a combined men’s ATP Challenger 75 and women’s ITF World Tennis Tour W60 tournament will offer a total prize pool of more than AUD $200,000 and valuable world ranking points.
Birrell returns to Playford after an emotional victory at the tournament last year following two-and-a-half years away from the sport due to an elbow injury. In 2023, the 25-year-old has claimed two ITF titles in Cantanhede and Orlando and reached a career high ranking of 100 last month.
Saville returned to the tour in June of this year and sits at 211 on the women’s singles rankings. Saville is familiar with South Australia and will be hoping to have the local community on her side in her husband Luke’s home state.
World No.94, Wang is the top ranked player in the field. She will arrive at Playford with form having won five ITF World Tennis Tour titles and one WTA 125K tournament this year.
They will be joined by Australian top 10 players including Astra Sharma (WA), Priscilla Hon (Qld), Jaimee Fourlis (Vic), Lizette Cabrera (Qld) and Seone Mendez (NSW), as well as South Australia’s Petra Hule who reached a career high ranking of 311 last month.
The 18 direct acceptances including four players from inside the world’s top 100 will be joined by four wildcards and six qualifiers, with main draw matches beginning on Tuesday 24 October.
City of Playford Tennis International
Player acceptance list as at 11 October 2023
Ranking date: 5 October 2023
| WTA rank | First name | Last name | Nationality |
| 95 | Yafan | Wang | CHN |
| 104 | Kimberly | Birrell | AUS |
| 157 | Moyuka | Uchijima | JPN |
| 161 | Astra | Sharma | AUS |
| 164 | Sujeong | Jang | KOR |
| 184 | Priscilla | Hon | AUS |
| 206 | Jaimee | Fourlis | AUS |
| 223 | YeXin | Ma | CHN |
| 238 | Lizette | Cabrera | AUS |
| 240 | Eudice | Chong | HKG |
| 247 | Daria | Saville | AUS |
| 248 | Seone | Mendez | AUS |
| 250 | Destanee | Aiava | AUS |
| 251 | Lanlana | Tararudee | THA |
| 253 | Sakura | Hosogi | JPN |
| 255 | Maddison | Inglis | AUS |
| 315 | Petra | Hule | AUS |
| 317 | Taylah | Preston | AUS |
Please note: list is subject to change
The City of Playford Tennis International is part of the Australian Pro Tour, a series of professional tennis events held throughout the year to bridge upcoming players with the ATP/WTA Tour, providing an opportunity to earn significant world ranking points.
For more information about the Australian Pro Tour, Tennis Australia or the players visit www.tennis.com.au/protour. For more information on the ATP Challenger Tour go to www.atptour.com or for more information on the ITF World Tennis Tour visit www.itftennis.com.
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