New York: Iga Swiatek, of Poland, reaches for a return against Jessica Pegula, of the United States, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in New York.AP/PTI Photo
Ostrava (Czech Republic), September 8 (IANS) World No 1 and two-time Roland Garros titlist Iga Swiatek is leading the entry list featuring six Grand Slam champions for the AGEL Open, a WTA 500 tournament in Ostrava, starting on October 3.
Swiatek will be joined by freshly crowned Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, as well as two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and former Roland Garros winners Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova.
Krejcikova and two-time major finalist Karolina Pliskova will lead the home contingent at the biggest Czech tournament of the season.
Four more Top 10 players: defending champion Anett Kontaveit, last year's runner-up Maria Sakkari, Roland Garros semifinalist Daria Kasatkina and Paula Badosa, will be also in the mix.
In 2021, Kontaveit captured her first WTA 500 title in Ostrava, the start of a still-active 20-match winning streak on indoor hard courts that saw the Estonian vault to her current World No 2. Last autumn, Kontaveit collected titles in Ostrava, Moscow and Cluj-Napoca to seal her debut at the WTA Finals Guadalajara, where she was runner-up to Garbi�e Muguruza.
Notably, the AGEL Open has been a fixture on the Hologic WTA Tour calendar since 2020, when Aryna Sabalenka defeated Azarenka to take the inaugural title.
