The final entries for the men’s and women’s divisions are in for the WA Open due to begin on Monday next week.
The WA Open is one of WA’s premier amateur events on the calendar and the women’s event in the WA Open is a 20K Signature Series and a lead in event to the Perth International ITF W75 #1 which begins a week later.
Last year, Ethan Dunn defeated Ashwin Sharma in the men’s competition and Laquisa Khan defeated Monique Barry in the women’s competition.
The women’s draw sees 26 entries with WA’s Jessie Culley listed as the top seed. Culley comes off an impressive State League season, playing as the number one seed for Peppermint Grove winning eight of her 11 singles matches in the 2023/24 State League season. Culley will be out to improve on last year’s WA Open performance, making it to the quarterfinals.
Hensman Park’s Alice Stevens lines up as the second seed and comes off an impressive State League campaign. Stevens was instrumental in securing the Women’s State League title for Hensman Park and won her last five matches for the season. Stevens has also had success in doubles in recent months, winning the Champion of Champions Doubles and Northern Territory Junior Championships Doubles.
Two of the three WA Under 15’s Junior State representatives in Sara Nikolic and Elena Manoj will also feature in the WA Open.
Other women’s State League players include Claudia Shearwood, Tara Aleksic, Jana Ruzic, Amelia Tatafu and Ella Nurkic. This WA Open is Aleksic, Shearwood and Ruzic’s first attempt while Tatafu and Nurkic will be out to improve on last year’s results with Tatafu making it to the second round while Nurkic made it to the quarterfinals.
The men’s competition also features some strong seeds with Matthew Burton returning from US NCAA Tennis (University of Oregon) and is listed as the number one seed. State League players Hans Bustiman (seeded two), Ashwin Sharma (three), Casey Ambler (four) and Luka Vujacic (five) will all feature in the men’s competition.
Ashwin Sharma returns to go one better from last year’s performance. Sharma went down in the final last year, going down to Ethan Dunn 7-6, 6-1. Casey Ambler is also back to improve after making it to the quarterfinals last year along with Ethan Hill who advanced as far as the second round while Luka Vujacic will take recent form from making the semifinals in the Northen Territory Junior Singles Championships.
The youngest competitor, Elroi Chiripamberi is back for the second time after failing to get past the first-round last year. Chiripamberi represented the WA Under 13 team in the Junior National Championships in June.
The winner of the WA Open men’s singles will receive $550 in prize money while the women’s singles winner will receive $3,200 in prize money.
The WA Open begins on Monday 2nd September. Entry is free for all spectators, and the cafe will be open for each day of the competition.
Click here to follow the draws and matches.
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