Three top-100 players, Kayla Day of USA, Nao Hibino of Japan and Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia are scheduled to compete in the WTA Mumbai Open to be staged at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) courts from February 5.
In the first of its two editions, the Mumbai Open had witnessed the then 18-year-old Aryna Sabalenka, ranked 96 in the world, winning her maiden WTA title in 2017. Sabalenka had lost to Maria Sharapova in the final of the Tianjin Open earlier that year and was happy to announce her arrival into the big league with the title in Mumbai, in her last tournament of that season.
The then rising star Sabalenka has become a super star now, having been ranked world No. 1 and winning back-to-back Australian Open titles.
In the current crop of players, Day had won the US Open girls title in 2016 and is ranked 82 in the world. Hibino has already won three WTA titles. Zidansek had made the semifinals of French Open in 2021
Notable among other exciting players is the 16-year-old Alina Korneeva of Russia, the No.1 ranked junior last year, who has already made her breakthrough into the women’s field by reaching the third round of Australian Open this year. She had won the girls title at the Australian Open last year.
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The rest of the field, featuring players from around world, will also be pretty strong, with the last direct entry being made with a rank of 179.
Only Prarthana Thombare has got a direct entry in doubles among the Indians, with her Dutch partner Arianne Hartono. Ankita Raina and Rutuja Bhosale are also expected to make the main draw of doubles.
There will be four wild cards for the main draw and four for the qualifying event which are expected to be announced soon. That should help more Indian players stake their claim and gauge their strength against top class opponents.
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