Lexus W100 Shrewsbury tournament set to be strongest event played at The Shrewsbury Club
Pictured: Sonay Kartal is set to lead the British challenge at next month’s Lexus W100 Shrewsbury tournament. Picture by Richard Dawson Photography.
Next month's Lexus W100 Shrewsbury tournament is set to be the strongest ITF World Tennis Tour tournament ever held here at The Shrewsbury Club. A host of players ranked in the world’s top 150 - including five in the current top 100 - have entered the prestigious tournament, which will be played here at the Club in just two weeks time.
A number of leading British stars also feature on the initial acceptance list, including Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Heather Watson, last year’s runner-up Amarni Banks and Jodie Burrage, as world class tennis returns to Shropshire. The W100 Shrewsbury event, which will be played on our indoor courts, is the biggest women’s tennis tournament, outside of the grass court season, to be played in the UK this year.
The highest ranked player to have entered next month's tournament is Spain’s Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, currently 81 in the world, one place higher than Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands, who is also on the initial acceptance list. French ace Oceane Dodin, who has won twice in Shrewsbury before and was last year's semi-finalist, and Serbia’s Olga Danilovic are the other players currently in the world’s top 100 to have entered the Shrewsbury event.
British number four Kartal, who broke into the world’s top 100 for the first time after winning her first WTA title in Tunisia earlier this month, leads the British challenge. Kartal progressed from the qualifying rounds to reach the third round at Wimbledon earlier this year, with her fine run at SW19 eventually ended by second seed Coco Gauff.
One of the stand out names on the initial acceptance list is Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Slovakia, who lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in the bronze medal match at the recent Olympics, following a brilliant run in Paris which saw Schmiedlova beat both of this year’s Wimbledon finalists Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini. It will be exactly 8 weeks on from losing to Swiatek on the Phillippe Chatrier court at Roland Garros that Schmiedlova will be gracing the courts at Shrewsbury.
The Shrewsbury Club’s Dave Courteen, said: “It’s always been the case that we have attracted top players, but this year, as it stands, every player in the main draw is currently ranked in the world’s top 150, so that’s an incredible indication of just how highly regarded this tournament is by the players.
”We are really looking forward to welcoming back players that have been here before. Oceane Dodin is the only player to have won the Shrewsbury title twice and is set to be one of the seeded players.
“Sonay Kartal has had success here when she won the UK Pro League title in 2021 and has always played well at Shrewsbury, so we are really excited that she will be coming back, along with a number of other leading British players.
“Amarni Banks enjoyed a brilliant run to the final here last year, so it will be nice to see her playing in Shrewsbury again, while Eva Lys, runner-up the year before when she lost to Marketa Vondrousova in the final, also features on the initial entry list.”
Richard Joyner, the W100 Shrewsbury tournament director for the LTA, added: “We are once again delighted to be returning to Shrewsbury. It’s always a very popular stop on the tour for the players who speak very fondly of the event.
“The initial entry list is the strongest list we’ve had for a Shrewsbury tournament and we are looking forward to what will be a great event.”
Tickets are already selling well and sales are ahead of last year which saw sell-out crowds for the semi-finals and finals. Those wanting to enjoy some world class tennis in Shrewsbury are advised to get their tickets from this website now!