The 2017 Aegon Open Nottingham is the third edition of this tournament after it got its status changed from an ITF Challenger to a WTA Tour event. It came into existence due to one extra week added between the French Open and Wimbledon in 2015.
It’s going to be an interesting event coming on the heels of what we see at the French Open. With good reason, a number of the big hitters will miss this event simply because they don’t have the energy after Roland Garros. Don’t expect to see the likes of Simona Halep, who lost in the French Open final, or Jelena Ostapenko, who was the shocking champ at the 2017 French Open. They’re likely going to have a little bit of a break before they start to get ready for the grass part of the season. For the most part, anyone who did well at the French Open will already start to have their eye on Wimbledon. However, those who struggled will want to get in as many matches as they can. There is momentum to be had and certain players simply don’t have it right now.
The competition in the 32-player main draw begins on Monday, June 12.
Event Details
Event: Aegon Open
Category: WTA International tier
Date: June 12 – 18, 2017
Location: Nottingham Tennis Centre – Nottingham, England
This is a small event so it won’t attract all the big stars. However, Nottingham will get the services of Johanna Konta, who is a local star and one of the strong contenders at Wimbledon. The transition from clay to grass is tough, so it’ll be interesting to see who adapts to it and who finds the going difficult. Usually, the form shown by the players here is an encouraging sign for Wimbledon, which also happens to be the third Grand Slam of the season.
With a prize money allotment of $250,000, there is no profound prize benefit relative to other International tournaments on the WTA Tour. This is a tournament whose value lies in its preparational identity relative to Wimbledon.
Points
Champion – 280
Runner-up – 180
Semifinalist – 110
Quarterfinalist – 60
Round of 16 – 30 points
Former Champions and Results (2 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016: Karolina Pliskova def. Alison Riske 7-6(10-8), 7-5
2015: Ana Konjuh def. Monica Niculescu 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Player Info:
Plenty Johanna Konta is from Great Britain, so there will be lot of hope and expectation for her in Nottingham. Konta had a disastrous French Open, where she was bounced out by Su-Wei Hsieh in the opening round. She looked flustered, frustrated and out of answers in her defeat. The Brit is a regular member of the top 10 but is surprisingly yet to win a main draw match in Paris. Konta started the clay-court season saying she liked the surface. When her Roland Garros campaign ended way earlier than expected, it didn’t seem that way. The 25-year old had a great start to the hardcourt season, where she won the title at the Sydney International and recently became the first British woman to win the Miami crown. When Konta steps on grass, she hopes things will be different. Konta sounds excited to play in Nottingham and was the first player to add her name to the entry list.
Lucie Safarova, the 30-year-old former World No. 5, is among 10 top-50 players in the draw. Safarova, the 2015 French Open runner-up, who also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon a year earlier and has seven WTA singles titles to her name, is featured at the Nottingham Tennis Centre for the first time in her career.
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, the former Wimbledon girls champion who reached the quarterfinal stage of the Aegon Open last year in her first WTA event back on court after a stint playing cricket, will return to Nottingham – a city where she has enjoyed success in the past.
Nottingham Tennis Centre
The facility hosts multiple tennis events during the year, but is a hub of activity for the WTA during the grass-court season. The locals know that players are preparing for Wimbledon, and many of the fans in attendance make the rounds back to the All-England Club a few weeks later. It’s the start of an English summer tennis party.
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