The Organizers of the St Petersburg Open are hopeful that they will able to attract two former world No.1 players to their tournament next month.
Both Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams are currently engaged in negotiations to play the event. Sharapova, who returned to the tour in April from a 15-month doping suspension, has never played a WTA match in St. Petersburg. During her career, she has only played in four Russian tournaments on the professional tour. All of which were held in Moscow. Meanwhile, Williams made her St Petersburg debut this year. Losing in the second round to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic.
“We do not hide the fact that we are continuing negotiations with Venus Williams and Masha (Maria) Sharapova. From Masha there is an answer that she has a competitive schedule loaded in. She has not yet confirmed her participation (in the tournament), but no one has said no,” an tournament official told R-Sport on Tuesday.
The St. Petersburg Open has been categorised at a Premier event since 2016, but its position in the calendar has made it hard to attract top names at times. It will get underway on January 29th, the week after the Australian Open.
According to the official website, two top-10 players are set to play in the event, which is held at the Sibur Arena. World No.1 Simona Halep and No.8 Caroline Garcia has both joined the entry list. Although their commitment could change nearer to the time depending on other tournaments. Defending champion Mladenovic is also set to play in the 2018 edition.
Russia will host three WTA tournaments next year. Besides St Petersburg, Moscow will hold the Moscow Open in July and the Kremlin Cup in October.
The country is also in the process of bidding to hold the WTA Finals after Singapore. Manchester (UK), Prague (The Czech Republic) and Shenzhen (China) have also expressed an interest in hosting the end-of-season event.
