Venus Williams and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga headline the field at the ASB Classic in Auckland. The event takes place the second week of the new tennis season as a tuneup event to the Australian Open. Joining Venus and Tsonga are Caroline Wozniacki, runner-up to Williams last year, and John Isner.
Williams Looking To Make It Back-To-Back Titles; Wozniacki Looking To Rebound
The American won the title in Auckland last year, defeating Wozniacki in the final in three sets. The final was a second consecutive one for Williams who also made it in 2014 but lost to Ana Ivanovic in a three-set thriller.
Williams has enjoyed a resurgent 2015 year, working her way back into the top ten, ending the year at seven in the world. She finished the year with three titles, with her biggest two coming in the final two months in Wuhan and Zhuhai. She’ll be looking to carry this momentum into the new year.
Wozniacki has struggled this season. Injuries have really hampered the former world number one, and her lack of results this season have also been a major downfall. This season, she only has one title to her name in Kuala Lumpur and failed to get past the second round in three of the four majors with Wimbledon being the lone one she made it into the second week.
Isner Looking To Repeat His 2014 Glory
The American was the 2014 champion in Auckland as the three seed. He defeated Yen-Hsun Lu in two tiebreak sets to capture the early season title. He chose to skip out on the tournament last year since he played in the Hopman Cup with Serena Williams last year and chose to play in Sydney in years past. 2016 will mark Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s first year in New Zealand to begin the season. In 2013 and 2014, Tsonga chose to play in the Hopman Cup exhibition.