French Open winner Maria Sharapova will headline the Brisbane International in January ahead of the Australian Open Grand Slam.
The former world No.1 and five-time Grand Slam title holder will be joined by local stars Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur and international guests Roger Federer, US Open champ Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori.
“Brisbane is such a great tournament, I’ve tried to make it so many years and I finally made it in 2014 and it was such a great experience,” Sharapova said.
Defending champion Hewitt knocked off Federer in this year’s final to capture his 29th career title.
“I really enjoy starting my year in Brisbane, it’s such a great tournament that traditionally has a strong line-up of players,” the 33-year-old said.
While tennis’ top stars will be lining up in abundance to get in some top quality competition ahead of the Australian Open on January 19, 2014 women’s winner Serena Williams has announced she will not feature in the January 4-11 tournament, citing a preference to change her yearly schedule.
“We have had three great years with Serena. She has decided to look elsewhere for the first week of the year,” director Cameron Pearson said.
“We really appreciate the years we’ve had with her. We know she will probably come back another year.”
Williams will however participate in mixed international competition the Hopman Cup for the United States in early January.
Meanwhile Nishikori has been announced as the headliner for the Kooyong Classic.
The January 13-16 tournament has also attracted French stars Richard Gasquet and Giles Simon and Ukranian Alexander Dolgopolov.
“I am looking forward to returning to Kooyong next year,” world No.6 Nishikori said.
“Kooyong was the start of a great season for me and I was very proud to emulate my mentor Michael Chang who won the tournament three times in the 1990s.
“Getting in early with some competitive matches at Kooyong is the perfect way to prepare for the Australian summer of tennis, and to get used to the Melbourne conditions and weather which can be challenging at that time of year.”
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
