Brisbane International sports ‘best-ever’ field with nine Grand Slam winners headed to Queensland in January
The Brisbane International in 2024 will include nine Grand Slam champions in what has been labelled one of the strongest fields ever assembled in the WTA 500/ATP 250 tournament’s history.
Andy Murray, Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko, Victoria Azarenka, Sofia Kenin, and Sloane Stephens will join returning former world No 1 Rafael Nadal in a stacked field.
Nadal will play in Brisbane for the first time since sustaining a hip injury in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open and undergoing surgery last June.
Brisbane is expected to be a good place to warm up for the Australian Open.
For Nadal it will be a chance to get into shape ahead of the Australian Open.
In past term’s he hasn’t played any warmup events ahead of the Slam but his injury woes have compelled him to test his readiness in Brisbane.
After a 5-hour and 24-minute Australian Open final, Nadal fought back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev to claim the Grand Slam in Melbourne in 2022 but he limped out of the tournament early in 2023 and went on to not play again during the entire campaign.
Former top-ranked player and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray will compete, as will eight-time ATP singles winner and 2017 Brisbane International champion Grigor Dimitrov, and world No 20 Ugo Humbert.
Holger Rune, the 2022 Paris Bercy Masters 1000 champion, will make his Brisbane debut. The Danish player won the ATP 250 championship in Munich and also advanced to the finals in Monte Carlo and Rome.
Promising American Ben Shelton is another player of great interest in the field.
In 2023, Shelton earned his maiden ATP championship in Tokyo and advanced to the semifinals of the US Open, the Australian Open, and the Shanghai Masters 1000 competition.
“I am thrilled to be playing the Brisbane International for the first time in 2024. My first trip to Australia was last January, and it was such an amazing experience. The fans were so welcoming. I am looking forward to exploring Brisbane and playing in front of the local fans. Hopefully there will be a chance to fit in some sightseeing during my visit”, said Shelton.
The WTA 500 tournament will include eight of the top twenty players in the WTA Rankings.
Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will begin her season in Brisbane in 2024. Sabalenka won the Adelaide International, the Australian Open, and the Miami Open, as well as reaching the finals at Indian Wells and Stuttgart in 2023.
Sabalenka will be joined by Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon winner, who reached the Australian Open final and won the Indian Wells final.
Karolina Pliskova, a former No 1 and three-time Brisbane International winner, and Madison Keys, who reached the final in Brisbane 2020, will also be on the lineup.
READ MORE: Maria Sharapova issues stark social media warning
