Five-time Grand Slam champion and former World No.1 Maria Sharapova is set to make her return to competition at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, which begins on 27th September.
Sharapova, who has accepted a wildcard into the WTA Premier event, has been sidelined by a knee injury since Wimbledon and was forced to miss the US Open.
“I’m looking forward to getting back onto the match court in Wuhan,” said Sharapova. “I’ve been working hard to get myself ready to compete again and I can’t wait to get back out there. I really enjoyed my visit to Wuhan last year.”
“We are delighted to welcome Maria back to Wuhan,” said Tournament Director Yi Guoqing. “Maria is an icon for tennis and for sport around the world. She joins an incredibly strong field of players for this year’s tournament.”
Sharapova has won Wimbledon (2004), the US Open (2006), the Australian Open (2008), plus two French Open titles (2012 and 2014). She has also reached an additional five Grand Slam finals and won 14 WTA Tour titles. After a successful first half of 2015, she recently qualified for this year’s season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore, which take place next month.
Sharapova’s addition to the field in Wuhan means that the tournament now boasts 18 of the world’s top 20 players, including nine of the world’s top ten. Sharapova joins an all-star line-up including Simone Halep, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Victoria Azarenka
The official websites for ticket sales are www.wuhanpen.org
Tidbits Of Info About the 2015 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open:
Optics Valley International Tennis Centre, Wuhan, China
WTA Premier 5 event
Qualifying Sept. 25 & 26 – Main Draw Sept 27 – Oct 3, 2015
Prize Money: US$ 2,513,000
56 Singles Main Draw, 32 Qualifying Draw, 28 Team Dubs Draw
Topics: Maria Sharapova, Sports, Tennis, Wta, Wuhan Open
-@MariaSharapova SET FOR WUHAN RETURN, THE TOURNEY HAS A REALLY STRONG FIELD- http://t.co/oictoLaM3l #tennis #Sharapova #WuhanOpen