MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA) – World number one Ash Barty is all set to return to competitive tennis after a lengthy gap because of the pandemic, said organisers on Thursday.
The player hailing from Queensland has not played since February and she opted not to defend her French Open title and also gave the US Open in New York the miss as the pandemic wreaked havoc on sports events.
The tennis calendar has not been spared from the pandemic with the year’s first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park to start on Feb. 8, three weeks later than originally scheduled.
Barty held on to the top women’s singles ranking during last year’s season which suffered a disruption and is slated to play after a gap of 11 months at one of the two WTA 500 events from Jan. 31-Feb. 6 as part of the Melbourne Summer Series.
As many as 49 of the top 50 women players will take part in the Gippsland Trophy and Yarra Valley Classic, named after regions in the state of Victoria.
The top 32 players will be split across the two events, with each featuring 64-singles and 32-doubles draws.
