BIRMINGHAM / AEGON CLASSIC WTA WARM-UP FOR WIMBLEDON. IVANOVIC , HANTUCHOVA , FLIPKENS PLAYING

Written by: Staff on 7th June 2014

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

BIRMINGHAM / AEGON CLASSIC WTA WARM-UP FOR WIMBLEDON. IVANOVIC , HANTUCHOVA , FLIPKENS PLAYING

epa04231374 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia celebrates a winner against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine during their second round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 29 May 2014. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

Young guns to face each other in Aegon Classic opener

Two of the WTA Tour’s most exciting young stars, 17-year-olds Belinda Bencic and Donna Vekic, will face each other in the first round of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham. Saturday’s draw threw the teenagers together what should be a showcase of burgeoning talent.

“It will be a very interesting match because we are the two youngest players in the Top 100,” said Vekic, who was runner-up to Daniela Hantuchova in last year’s Aegon Classic final. “I’m really looking forward to playing her. I know it will be a tough match.”

Vekic could face Hantuchova again in a replay of last year’s final if she can get past Bencic. Hantuchova, as one of the tournament’s top eight seeds, receives a bye into round two. The tournament’s top seed, Ana Ivanovic, has a bye before taking on either Mona Barthel or Ajla Tomljanovic in round two. Second seed Samantha Stosur will take on the winner of Anna Schmiedlova and Christina McHale.

In another notable first round match, 21-year-old Paula Ormachaea takes on 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm, the oldest player in the singles draw.

Please find a full singles draw attached in PDF form.

Tickets to the Aegon Classic are now on sale. For more information and to purchase tickets please visit www.aegonclassic.co.uk

To find a playing partner, a local court or coach, register at www.allplaytennis.com.

Tidbits Of Info :

•The Aegon Classic is upgraded to a WTA Premier 600 event in 2014 with prize money of over $700k

• 2014 is the 33rd staging of this WTA event in Birmingham which has been won previously by Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova and Li Na.

• The LTA has invested £5 million into a £12 million redevelopment project at Edgbaston Priory Club to encourage wider participation and grow community access to tennis in the Midland’s, as well as securing the venue as a prominent international venue for racquet sport, attracting world class players to Birmingham and bringing vital business for the local economy.

• The 2014 Aegon Championships is one of three ATP & WTA grass court tournaments staged and run by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) in the run up to The Championships, Wimbledon.

• The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) mission is to get more people playing tennis more often, and its role is to develop, promote and govern tennis in Britain.

• To find a playing partner, local court or coach please visit www.allplaytennis.com

• Aegon is Lead Partner of British Tennis and is helping to transform the sport in this country. They’re supporting young talent through the Aegon FutureStars programme, as well as sponsoring the junior and senior GB Davis and Fed Cup teams and amateur and professional events. Aegon sponsor three world-class grass court tournaments; the Aegon Classic, Aegon International and Aegon Championships and will also sponsor the new WTA and ATP events in Nottingham from 2015. For further information visit www.aegontennis.co.uk

• For more information on the LTA and British tennis, visit: www.lta.org.uk

Topics: AEGON Classic, Ana Ivanovic, Birmingham, Daniela Hantuchova, Kirsten Flipkens, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon, Wta

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June 7, 2014 at 12:42 pm

BIRMINGHAM / AEGON CLASSIC WTA WARM-UP FOR WIMBLEDON. IVANOVIC , HANTUCHOVA , FLIPKENS PLAYING – http://t.co/tXLESOgWOJ #tennis #Aegon