9 September 2024 | Tennis West

The main draw of the Perth International ITF W75 #1 has been finalised after the final round of qualifying matches wrapped up today at the State Tennis Centre. 

The final round of qualifying saw many tight and intense matches. Australians, Elena Micic and Stefani Webb secured their place in the main draw with wins, however Alexandra Osborne and Alana Parnaby fell short.

Micic had to come from a set down after going down in a first set tie-break. Micic broke the serve of Nagi Hanatani at 5-5 to take the second set then stormed home with momentum, winning the third set 6-1. Micic now faces fellow qualifier Erika Sema in the first round of the main draw.

After being challenged by West Aussie Ella Nurkic in the first round of qualifying, Stefani Webb had a more straight forward win against Xiangruyi winning 6-2, 6-1. Webb now faces Indian Shrivalli Bhamidpaty in the first round of the main draw.

A total of 12 Australians including two from Western Australia will compete in the main draw of the Pro Tour. Spectators will have to wait until Wednesday to see locals Maddison Inglis and Talia Gibson play their round one singles matches. Third seed Maddison Inglis faces Nato Sato from Japan while top seed Talia Gibson takes on fellow Aussie Alexandra Bozovic.

WA’s Talia Gibson goes into the Perth International as the top ranked seed ranked 172 in the world. Gibson will be out to go one better this year after finishing runner up in both Perth Internationals to Aussies Priscilla Hon and Taylah Preston. Gibson comes off an impressive run in the US Open and Wimbledon qualifying where she made the final round of both Grand Slam qualifying rounds but fell short on securing a main draw spot.

Australian Destanee Aiava (world No.180) also returns to Perth looking to improve on her results from last year. Aiava made the semi finals of the Perth International #1 going down to eventual winner Priscilla Hon and made the quarter final of the Perth International #2 going down to Talia Gibson. The 24-year-old comes straight from the US Open where she successfully went through qualifiers and made the first round of the main draw.

The third seed and well-loved West Aussie Maddison Inglis also returns home to the Perth International. After mixed results at last year’s Perth Internationals, Inglis found form in April winning the ITF W100 Tokyo Open – the biggest win of her career then followed it up with an impressive Wimbledon qualifying campaign, falling short in the final round of qualifying for the main draw.

Aussies Petra Hule and Alicia Smith kick off day one play with matches starting at 10 am on the three main courts followed by third seed Destanee Aiava and Gabriella Da Silva Fick.

The doubles main draw also begins tomorrow, with five matches to be played, scheduled to start at 12.30 pm. In the doubles, Talia Gibson teams up with Maddison Inglis and start their doubles campaign against Haruna Arakawa and Shrivalli Bhampidpaty on court 2 after 2 pm.

While they were both unlucky to advance past the first round of qualifying singles, local Perth players Ella Nurkic and Alice Stevens have teamed up in the doubles. The Hensman Park pair will take on Aussies Ashley Katz and Tahlia Kokkinis on court 3 at 12.30 pm earliest.

The Women’s ITF World Tennis Tour provides the entry level of professional tournaments, enabling players to reach the higher-level tournaments on the WTA tour.

This year the total prize pool has been increased from $25,000USD to $60,000USD while also offering more WTA world ranking points.

Entry is free for all spectators, and the cafe will be open for each day of the competition of the Perth International ITF W75’s.

All main draw matches in the Perth International ITF W75 will be live streamed. Live streaming will be available to watch here.

Live scores can be found here.