The 2016 BMW Copa Claro Colsanitas Open is a South American tour stop on clay courts, a chance for clay specialists – especially those from the local continent – to get needed match play in advance of the bigger clay tournaments in Europe in the month of May.
The competition in the 32-player main draw will begin on Monday, April 11.
Event Details
Event: Copa Claro Colsanitas
Category: WTA International Level
Date: April 11 – April 17, 2016
Location: Club Campestre El Rancho – Bogota, Colombia
With a prize money allotment of $250,000, this tournament isn’t a focal point for the earnings. It’s a needed chance to transition to clay and develop some rhythm before the clay season hits the high point with the tour stops in Madrid and Rome in advance of the French Open, which is a month and a half away. Players who can win three matches this week can get some very meaningful work in, and develop some confidence on the surface which requires hard work and patience more than any other. Playing on clay is a grind, so entering any clay tournament on the road to Roland Garros is essential if only for the possibility that it will help players develop that much-needed sense of rhythm. The players we’ll see here are going to be many of the lower seeds we see at Roland Garros. Why that’s important is it can help us handicap those early-round matches at the French Open and if we see someone standing out here, we might want to be careful betting against them when the first and second rounds in Paris roll around. It’s a good way of seeing who’s who in the lower end of the zoo before we get to the bigger grandslam.
The points structure under the WTA system is that for the women, the championship at an International level tour event means 280 points. A runner-up finish is worth 180. A semifinal result is 110 points, and a quarterfinal appearance offers 60 points. Round-of-16 results will give 30 points.
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2015 – Teliana Pereira def. Yaroslava Shvedova – 7-6, 6-1
2014 – Caroline Garcia def. Jelena Jankovic – 6-3, 6-4
2013 – Jelena Jankovic def. Paula Ormaechea – 6-1, 6-2
2012 – Lara Arruaberrena def. Alexandra Panova – 6-2, 7-5
2011 – Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. Mathilde Johansson – 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Player Info:
The top seed is Elina Svitolina. The next seven top seeds, in order, are Teliana Pereira, Mariana Duque Marino, Lara Arruabarrena, Irina Falconi, Tatjana Maria, Lourdes Dominguez Lino, and Anna Tatishvili. You can notice here a heavy Spanish presence, with some South Americans but also players from the United States and the rest of Europe. There’s still more of a Latin presence here, compared to what you might find at European tour stops of a similar level of prestige (the International level of tournament competition on the WTA Tour).
As you can tell by the names involved here – I.E. we don’t see Serena Williams or a number of the other players in the Top 25 – that this tournament is one where a lot of stars fail to visit. That should open the door for someone who is lower ranked to have an opportunity to succeed here.
Pre-tournament pullouts include Jana Cepelova, Lauren Davis, Alexa Glatch, Kristina Kucova, Varvara Lepchenko, Alize Lim, Petra Martic, and Christina McHale. Replacing them will be Amra Sadikovic, Silvia Soler, Marina Melnikova, Paula Cristina Goncalves, Alexandra Panova, Elitsa Kostova, Laura Pous Tio, and Ipek Soylu. As you can tell by the names on this list, we’re not going to be missing any huge stars due to the pullouts. It’s really just a number of players that the common tennis bettor doesn’t really know about.
Club Campestre El Rancho
The Copa Claro Colsanitas will be held at a location which has undergone a new renovation with brand-new tennis courts for this tournament. The Copa Claro has retained its place and position as a steady part of the clay season swing, carving out a small place in South America before the tennis world turns its eyes to Europe.
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