Russian Elena Vesnina (above), the popular finalist from the 2009 ASB Classic featuring the Kia Motors Singles and doubles has confirmed her return for January’s tournament.
After starting the 2009 tournament at No79 in the world and working her way to the final of the ASB Classic she was eventually stopped by top-10 countrywoman Elena Dementieva (below, at right).
Vesnina, now 23 years old, has a world ranking of 22, a career-high after some great results during the past 12 months.
Auckland was her first career final, after notching up wins over Aiko Nakamura, Nicole Vaidisova, Caroline Wozniacki and Anne Keothavong.
Shortly after the ASB Classic she made the quarters of Dubai as a qualifier beating world No 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova. Then there was a semi-final appearance at the Ponte Vedra Beach defeating Dominika Cibulkova. The following tournament she made the quarters at Charleston.
Vesnina had her best performance at Wimbledon reaching the fourth round this year and also secured her second career final at the event in New Haven defeating Amelie Mauresmo in semi-finals before falling to Wozniacki.
Additional highlights in 2009 included reaching her first Grand Slam final at the French Open doubles with partner Victoria Azarenka and the quarters in doubles at the US Open with Maria Kirilenko. There were also nine wins over top-20 players in singles.
Vesnina has been a member of the strong Russian Fed Cup team and represented her country in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“It will be great to welcome Elena back to the ASB Classic as one of the seeds after her best ever year that has seen her achieve a career high ranking of 22. She was a popular and engaging personality who the New Zealand public really enjoyed and she had a lot of fans by the time she left Auckland after reaching the final,” says ASB Classic Tournament Director Brenda Perry.
Tickets will be on sale for the 2010 ASB Classic from Ticketek or Tennis Auckland from Monday 2 November 2009.
Already announced are the world No1 doubles and multi-Grand Slam winning pair of Cara Black (Zimbabwe) and Liezel Huber(United States). More player announcements are expected in the next few weeks.
The tournament will once again include video podcasting as well as live scoring and a number of other new features.
The ASB Classic featuring the Kia Motors Singles and Doubles will be played at the ASB Tennis Centre January 4-9, with qualifying January 2-3.
The ASB Classic is a US$220,00 International Series event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour |
