Future stars for ASB Classic

The ASB Classic has gone a long way towards future proofing its long-term success with the signing of three of the best rising stars in the women’s game.

The Sunday Star Times can reveal teenagers Naomi Osaka, Ana Konjuh and Jelena Ostapenko are all confirmed for January’s tournament.

Of course, the headline players in Auckland will be Serena and Venus Williams, but Osaka, Konjuh and Ostapenko, who have world rankings of 47, 48 and 43 respectively, are the stars of the future.

‘‘The mark of our success over the last few years has been playing the long game,’’ Classic tournament director Karl Budge said.

‘‘When all the reports came out about who we’d sign after Serena and Venus, I said then our focus was more on looking what 2019 and 2020 would look like, rather than filling up the depth this year.

‘‘It was with that in mind that we were trying to lock away the next wave of Venus and Serenas.’’

Konjuh and Ostapenko have played at the Classic previously, but it will be Osaka’s first time.

She plays under a Japanese flag and was coincidently born in Osaka, but she is coached in America by her Haitian-born father, Leonard Francois.

Her best tournament so far came in September when she defeated Dominika Cibulkova on the way to the final in Tokyo, which she lost 7-5 6-3 to Caroline Wozniacki. ‘‘I chased Naomi pretty hard,’’ Budge said. ‘‘She’s someone that I first watched early in the year and thought she looked really solid.

‘‘I watched her again at the US Open, playing really well and she should have won her third round match against Madison Keys [losing a third set tiebreak].

‘‘Thankfully, as we started firming up the deal she made the final in Tokyo, backing up all the thoughts we had about how good she was going to be.’’

While Osaka wasn’t able to beat Wozniacki this year, Latvia’s Ostapenko was, defeating the former world No 1 7-5 6-2 in New Haven in August.

Ostapenko is in the second year of a two-year deal, losing to Britain’s Naomi Broady in the second round last time.

Konjuh, from Croatia, first played at the Classic just after her 16th birthday three years ago, when she was ranked 259 in the world and in her first match in Auckland bundled out the top seed, Roberta Vinci.

She’s made steady progress each season and although her three-year deal with the tournament ended earlier this year she had no hesitation in wanting to come back.

‘‘She was 15 when we signed her for the first time and she’s still the youngest girl in the top 100 and is the youngest player since Martina Hingis to win a WTA title,’’ Budge said.

The full field for the women’s Classic, on January 2-7, will be announced on Wednesday.