Francesca Schiavone will be taking part in the ASB Classic tennis tournament as a wild card entrant.
The veteran Italian has seen herself dropping down in the singles rankings on a frequent basis in the recent times.
She is 79th in the world at the moment.
However, her popularity is the same even at this stage of her career. She is one of the most entertaining players and people from all over the world like watching her play. That’s why; the organizers were quite keen to get her to Auckland. Her presence would be beneficial for the tournament there.
Speaking to the press in the afternoon today, the chairman of the organizing committee, Mr. Karl Budge said, “We are very happy to have signed Francesca. She brings a bit of class to the competition. Despite not being at that high a position in terms of rankings, she is still good enough and can beat anyone on the tour.”
The previous season went title-less for Schiavone, but, she did put on some good showings in a couple of events. She had made it to the round of 4 in Hong Kong as well as in Baku.
Schiavone is not the only Grand Slam winner though to be going to play in ASB Classic this year. There are quite a few others including Serena Williams’ elder sister Venus who is also the reigning champion. Svetlana Kuznetsova would be there too. So, it’s going to be a star studded affair there in Auckland.
Caroline Wozniacki and Sara Errani are the top two seeded players followed by Venus.
The tournament is going to start in the first week of January and would go on for a week or so. The total prize money is two hundred fifty thousand Dollars.