WTA: Strong competition for Angelique Kerber at the Mallorca Open

The WTA tournament on the lawn of Mallorca is increasingly becoming a meeting place for female tennis stars: in addition to Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Garcia will also be competing.

The 3rd edition of the WTA “Mallorca Open” from 17 to 24 June 2018 on the tennis court in Santa Ponsa will also feature first-class players. Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber are two players who have already achieved first place in the world rankings in their careers.

The Belarusian was the world’s number one on 30 January 2012 (51 weeks in total), the German on 12 September 2016 (for 34 weeks). Tournament organizer Edwin Weindorfer, his congenial partner, tournament director Toni Nadal, and the newly appointed Spanish tournament ambassador Conchita Martinez, who was officially introduced at the press conference in Santa Ponsa on Tuesday, are delighted with the top-class line-up of the tournament, the competition for top star Kerber is immensely strong!

While the Mallorcan-born Angelique Kerber used the perfect conditions on the grass courts to prepare for the turf classic in Wimbledon, Victoria Azarenka celebrated a comeback after the baby break at the “Mallorca Open 2017”. The then 27-year-old Belarusian had reached the round of 16 with a hard-won 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Risa Ozaki from Japan. Ana Konjuh then stopped Azarenka’s comeback, the 19-year-old Croatian won 6-1, 6-3 and this year the Belarusian, who felt very much at home in Mallorca with her little son, is making another attempt to win the 250,000-dollar tournament.

With Caroline Garcia and Anastasija Sevastovakommen two world-class players who have already immortalized themselves in the list of winners of the “Mallorca Open”. The French woman, currently number seven in the WTA ranking, triumphed at the premiere in 2016. Her opponent in the final at the time, Sevastova, savoured the feeling of winning the tournament a year later: The native Latvian, who is looked after by the Austrian Ronny Schmidt and has found her second home in the Alpine republic, faced the German Julia Görges in the 2017 final. Sevastova won 6:4, 3:6, 6:3 and celebrated their 2nd tournament victory on the WTA-Tour. Currently, Sevastova ranks 17th in the world rankings.

Spain’s hopes rest on the shoulders of Carla Suarez Navarro (No. 25 in the world). Chinese Shuai Zhang (No. 28), Estonian Anett Kontaveit (29) and Polish Agnieszka Radwanska (30) are three other top 30 players in the main competition.

German tennis fans can keep their fingers crossed not only for top star Angelique Kerber, but also for two other players who have made it into the main competition thanks to their rankings: Carina Witthöft (No 59) and Tatjana Maria (63).

Tournament organisers Weindorfer, tournament director Nadal and the new ambassador Conchita Martinez (Wimbledon winner 1994, formerly number two in the world) are delighted to see “that the Mallorca Open is developing great year after year and becoming a favourite tournament for world-class players”.