Sydney will host a cast of global tennis superstars when the new, one-off Sydney Tennis Classic, a WTA 500 and ATP 250 tournament, is held at Sydney OIympic Park Tennis Centre from 10-15 January 2022.
Nineteen of the world’s top 24 women, including world No.1 Ash Barty, world No.3 Garbine Muguruza, former world No.1s Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep, Roland Garros 2020 champion Iga Swiatek and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic, will all compete in the Harbour City the week before the Australian Open.
The announcement of this spectacular playing field occurs on the same day tickets have gone on sale for the Melbourne Summer Set.
Headlined by Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka, the Melbourne Summer Set comprises three tournaments — two WTA 250 events and one ATP 250 — at Melbourne Park from 3-9 January 2022.
In Sydney, all eyes will also be on reigning US Open women’s champion Emma Raducanu and finalist Leylah Fernandez, along with Australian Open 2020 champion Sofia Kenin.
The women’s field boasts nine Grand Slam women’s singles champions who hold 14 major singles titles between them.
On the men’s side, four of the world’s top 20 including 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem will contest the ATP 250 tournament, as will Australia’s top male Alex de Minaur, who won a title in Sydney in 2019, along with David Goffin and Kei Nishikori, both former top 10 players.
NSW Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres said this was another exciting event to kick off the summer of sport for the new year and help reinvigorate the NSW visitor economy.
“It is fantastic to see such an incredible world-class line-up for the Sydney Tennis Classic, led by none other than our world No.1, Ash Barty. Events like these are essential as we help the tourism and major events sectors recover from the pandemic, driving overnight visitation and showcasing Sydney and NSW to a global television audience,” Ayres said.
“Every year Sydney sets up Australia’s annual sporting calendar. Along with the SCG Pink Test and the ATP Cup, the Sydney Tennis Classic will set the national standard.”
NSW Minister for Sport Natalie Ward said it will be terrific to see international tennis stars take centre court in our own backyard.
“I’m thrilled NSW will play host to the Sydney Tennis Classic straight off the back of the ATP Cup,” Ward said.
“As an avid sports fan, I can’t wait to see the world’s top women and men battle it out on the court right here in Sydney, inspiring our future generation of tennis stars.”
Sydney Tennis Classic Tournament Director Paul Daly said the tournament offers tennis fans an extra dose of high quality, world class tennis in Sydney before the first Grand Slam of the year.
“To see 19 of the world’s top 24 women and four of the world’s top 20 men compete at the Sydney Tennis Classic the week before the Australian Open is fantastic news for Sydney tennis fans,” Daly said.
“We’re also delighted to see Ash Barty and Alex de Minaur return to Sydney Olympic Park, they’ve both played great tennis here and will have special memories of the venue. It will be a special week of competition.”
Sydney Tennis Classic
WTA 500 / Qualifying: 9 Jan / Main Draw: 10-15 Jan
1 Ashleigh Barty AUS 3 Garbine Muguruza ESP 5 Barbora Krejcikova CZE 6 Maria Sakkari GRE 7 Anett Kontaveit EST 8 Paula Badosa ESP 9 Iga Swiatek POL 10 Ons Jabeur TUN 11 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 12 Sofia Kenin USA 14 Elena Rybakina KAZ 16 Angelique Kerber GER 17 Petra Kvitova CZE 18 Jessica Pegula USA 19 Emma Raducanu GBR 20 Simona Halep ROU 21 Elise Mertens BEL 23 Belinda Bencic SUI 24 Leylah Fernandez CAN
ATP 250 / Qualifying: 9 Jan / Main Draw: 10-15 Jan
15 Dominic Thiem AUT 17 Cristian Garin CHI 18 Aslan Karatsev RUS 19 Roberto Bautista Agut ESP 22 Nikoloz Basilashvili GEO 23 Taylor Fritz USA 25 Daniel Evans GBR 26 Reilly Opelka USA 27 Lorenzo Sonego ITA 33 Dusan Lajovic SRB 34 Alex de Minaur AUS 37 Fabio Fognini ITA 39 David Goffin BEL 42 Filip Krajinovic SRB 44 Federico Delbonis ARG 45 Albert Ramos-Vinolas ESP 47 Kei Nishikori JPN 48 Ilya Ivashka BLR 50 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ESP
Tickets to the Sydney Tennis Classic are now on sale via australiansummeroftennis.com/Sydney.
Fans can sit in the shade at Ken Rosewall Arena after its new canopy roof was introduced in late 2019.
Sydney Tennis Classic is proudly supported by Destination NSW and will be held after the ATP Cup at Sydney Olympic Park from 10-15 January 2022.