WTA TENNIS PLAYERS •MADISON KEYS, SIMONA HALEP & SAFAROVA LEAD ALL-STAR LINE-UP IN BIRMINGHAM• TICKETS AVAILABLE

Written by: Staff on 22nd April 2017

WTA TENNIS PLAYERS •MADISON KEYS, SIMONA HALEP & SAFAROVA LEAD ALL-STAR LINE-UP IN BIRMINGHAM• TICKETS AVAILABLE

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - JUNE 19: Madison Keys of United States celebrates her victory during her Women's Singles Final against Barbara Strycova of Czech Republic on day seven of the WTA Aegon Classic at Edgbaston Priory Club on June 19, 2016 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images for LTA) |

Madison Keys of United States celebrates her victory during her Women’s Singles Final against Barbara Strycova of Czech Republic on day seven of the WTA Aegon Classic at Edgbaston Priory Club on June 19, 2016 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images for LTA)

KEYS, HALEP AND SAFAROVA LEAD ALL-STAR LINE-UP IN BIRMINGHAM

Defending Aegon Classic Birmingham champion Madison Keys, former Grand Slam finalists Simona Halep and Lucie Safarova are all set to join Great Britain’s Johanna Konta at the Edgbaston Priory Club from 17-25th June this year.

Madison Keys of United States celebrates with the Maud Watson trophy after her victory in the Women’s Singles Final against Barbara Strycova of Czech Republic on day seven of the WTA Aegon Classic at Edgbaston Priory Club on June 19, 2016 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Neville Williams/Getty Images)

“Winning the title in Birmingham last year was an unbelievable moment for me and I’m looking forward to getting back to defend my title,” said Keys. “It’ll be tough because you’re always competing against great players there but it’ll always be a special tournament for me and I know I can play well on those courts.”

World No.7 and British No.1 Konta will be bidding to become the first British women to lift the Maud Watson Trophy. In-form Konta won the biggest title of her career last month at the Miami Open.

This year’s tournament boasts more than $800,000 in prize-money pool and along with the Aegon International Eastbourne is one of two top level WTA Premier women’s tennis events leading into The Championships, Wimbledon. It is the most prestigious annual women’s sports event in the Midlands and has been drawing world class tennis players to Birmingham since 1983, boasting Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber amongst its former champions.

Entries for the main draw of the tournament close on 8th May, with more big names likely to be added to the line-up in the coming weeks.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at a special ‘Early Bird’ price between now and Thursday 4th May.

Main draw entrants for this year’s tournament include (so far):

Madison Keys

Simona Halep

Lucie Safarova

Johanna Konta

Patrick Hughesman, Tournament Director for the Aegon Classic Birmingham, said:

“We’re proud of bringing some of the world’s best female athletes to Birmingham and we want to create an amazing showcase for them and for women’s tennis, as well as giving people a fantastic experience when they come to watch. Our goal is to match the world class sport with a world class day out.”

Tara McGregor-Woodhams, Head of Brand and Sponsorship Aegon UK, commented: “We look forward to once again welcoming the stars of the women’s game to the Aegon Classic Birmingham. The Edgbaston Priory Club has some of the best grass courts in the world and 2017 promises to be another memorable year.”

Tickets to the Aegon Classic Birmingham are now on general sale via https://www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-classic-birmingham/

ABOUT THE LTA:

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the National Governing Body for tennis in Great Britain, responsible for developing and promoting the sport, with a mission to get more people playing tennis more often. It does this under the consumer brand of British Tennis, by working with a broad range of partners and over 25,000 volunteers, to grow the game in communities, clubs and schools. The LTA represents the interests of over 590,000 British Tennis Members, men and women, girls and boys across the country, playing on more than 23,000 courts. The LTA runs and supports a network of 11,500 approved tournaments for players of all ages, the corner-stones of which are the premier grass court events leading up to Wimbledon, held in Nottingham, Birmingham, Queen’s Club-London and Eastbourne, all title sponsored by Aegon. The LTA works with many delivery partners to grow the sport across the country. One of these is its charitable entity, the Tennis Foundation, to provide a tennis provision for more than 20,000 schools, disadvantaged youth as well as promoting tennis as an inclusive sport for anyone with a disability. For further information about the LTA and British Tennis, and to review the British Tennis strategy for 2015–2018 visit www.lta.org.uk or follow us on Twitter @BritishTennis.

ABOUT AEGON CLASSIC BIRMINGHAM:

WTA Premier Tournament

Total Prize Money: $819,940 (£656,057)

Surface: Grass

2016 Singles Champion: Madison Keys

2016 Doubles Champion: Barbora Strycova/Karolina Pliskova

www.wtatennis.com

Topics: 10sballs.com, AEGON Classic, Birmingham, Tennis News, Wta