Sharapova lines up city return
FIVE-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will join reigning Wimbledon champ Garbine Muguruza, defending Nature Valley Classic champion Petra Kvitova and British No.1 Johanna Konta at this year’s newly-renamed event in Birmingham this June.
The Classic, which takes place at Edgbaston Priory between June 18-24, is now in its 27th year, having first taken place in the city in 1982 when Billie Jean King won.
Sharapova was lined up to play in the tournament last year, but having been handed a wild card, she was forced to pull out due to a muscle tear.
The Russian is one of only five female players to win all four Grand Slam titles (Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams are the others). Sharapova’s famous victory at Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 17, came just a few weeks after she lifted the first of her two Edgbaston Priory trophies.
“I’m excited to return to play the Nature Valley Classic,” she said. “I feel like the fans in Birmingham and I go back a long way and I’ve got a lot of good memories of playing there.
“It’s going to feel really good to be back out there playing again.”
This year’s all-star line-up in Birmingham means that fans are already rushing to buy tickets for the £510,597 WTA Premier event, with ‘early-bird’ ticket buyers getting £5 off per ticket if they book before midnight on May 3.
British tennis summer ticket sales are reported to be 50 per cent higher than in 2017 already, with events including the Nature Valley Open, Nottingham, Nature Valley Classic, Birmingham and Nature Valley International, Eastbourne whetting fans’ appetites.
Patrick Hughesman, Nature Valley Classic tournament director, said: “Maria is one of the biggest stars of her generation and a former champion in Birmingham, so it will be great to see her back on the grass courts of the Edgbaston Priory Club. This year’s line-up of players is already incredibly strong and we could get more big names signing up in the next couple of weeks. It’s shaping up to be a most memorable week.”