Williams sisters plan Classic final
Venus Williams was lured back to Auckland for January’s ASB Classic with the plan she wouldn’t face Serena until the final.
The Williams sisters haven’t played at the same International WTA tournament (the second tier of WTA events), since 1998, but they have both agreed to come to Auckland next year.
It means Kiwi tennis fans have the prospect of seeing one of the seeing one of the greatest sporting match ups of all time.
The first time they played against each other was the Australian Open in 1998 and Serena has won 16 of the 27 matches between the sisters.
But while both players are competitive, they don’t enjoy playing each other, which is why they so rarely enter the same tournaments.
At this stage it’s likely they will be ranked No 1 and 2 seeds at the Classic, so wouldn’t face each other unless both got to the final.
‘‘They don’t like playing against each other, so if they can avoid that they do,’’ Classic tournament director Karl Budge said.
‘‘A big one for us was trying to sell that they’d be the No 1 and 2 seeds and on opposite sides of the draw.
‘‘Whether that ends up being the case now is something we’ll have to wait on.’’
A spanner in the works for this plan could be Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is ranked No 9.
With Serena at No 2 and Venus at 15, the Russian would become the second seed if she chose to make her sixth appearance at the Classic.
Although the Classic is allowed only one top 10 player, there is an obscure WTA rule which would allow her to come.
Anyone who has played over 600 matches, been on the tour for at least 10 years, finishes the year in the top 10 and aged 30 or above, can elect not to be classed as a top 10 player.
This then allows them to enter any International tournament they want, but they miss out on the bonus for playing in all the big events over the season.
It’s unknown if Kuznetsova wants to return, but Budge says this rule was something he was exploring with Venus, until she recently dropped out of the top 10.
‘‘We needed to sell it in a different way to Venus, but we were always confident that she’d be kicking off her year at the ASB Classic,’’ Budge said.
‘‘When we first started having this conversation she was No 6 in the world, so the fact that we were having talks with Serena, we needed her to either not finish in the top 10 or opt not to be a top 10 player.’’
Now both are confirmed, Budge will have conversations about if they’re interested in playing doubles as a pair.
It had been reported Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic have also signed to come back to the Classic, but Budge says that’s not correct.
‘‘I’m not sure where that came from but I can categorically say we have not signed those players,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s not to say we’re not talking to them, but we haven’t contracted them.’’
Budge says he’ll look to build depth to the women’s field over the next month. He’s likely to have an eye on younger players with lots of potential and who could come into the reckoning is Daria Kasatkina, from Russia.
She was 75 in the world when she beat Venus at last year’s Classic as an 18-year-old and is up to 26 now.
‘‘We want to put on the best possible field we can,’’ he said.
‘‘We won’t rest on our laurels, but we’re also safe in the knowledge that we’ve signed the biggest athletes we possibly could and it’s going to be New Zealand’s biggest sporting event next year, quite comfortably.’’