The 2018 St. Petersburg tour event has arrived. This is not a universal situation on tour, but for many WTA professionals, this is a chance to bounce back following the Australian Open. Anyone who didn’t go too deep in Melbourne can build back rankings points and prize winnings at this WTA Premier tournament. Some players will be sluggish due to lack of match play early in the year, and that’s what will lend intrigue to the week in Russia.
It’s going to be hard for this tournament to follow up the excitement that transpired at the Australian Open. Caroline Wozniacki finally got the weight off her shoulders, winning her first ever grand slam. She survived match points earlier in the tournament and that seemed to relax her the rest of the way. She’s been playing well for a while now and will again become the world’s No. 1 player. She hasn’t made a final decision about participating at this event, though, which paves the wave for some lesser-known players to make a bigger splash. With Simona Halep pulling out, it leaves Jelena Ostapenko as one of the top players in the field.
The competition in the 28-player main draw will begin on Monday, January 29.
Event Details
Event: St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy
Category: WTA Premier Level
Date: January 29 – February 4, 2018
Location: Sibur Arena / Dynamo Tennis Center – St. Petersburg, Russia
With a prize money allotment of roughly $734,000, this tournament has added nearly $23,000 in prize money compared to last year, and in 2017, the tournament’s purse represented a boost of $25,000 compared to 2016, which is obviously the sign of a very healthy and thriving event with a secure place on the WTA Tour. This is a Premier tournament, but that status doesn’t necessarily guarantee big crowds or the resources to continue to grow. In this case, however, St. Petersburg is cementing its place on tour. It has a packed field with high-end players this year.
Points
Champion – 470 points
Runner-up – 305
Semifinal – 185
Quarterfinal – 100
Round-of-16 – 55 points
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2017 – Kristina Mladenovic def. Yulia Putintseva, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4
2016 – Roberta Vinci def. Belinda Bencic – 6-3, 6-4
2015 – Jelena Ostapenko d. Patricia Maria Tig – 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
2009-2014: Not held
2008 – Magdalena Rybarikova d. Anna Lapuschchenko, 6-4, 6-2
2007: Not held
2006 – Alberta Brianti d. Alla Kudryatseva, 6-1, 6-4
Player Info:
Here are some of the more high-profile players at this tournament, where the top four seeds get an automatic bye into the second round:
Simona Halep withdrew from this tournament, but her opponent in the Australian Open final, Caroline Wozniacki, has not yet made the same decision. Wozniacki would figure to be exhausted if she comes to Russia to play, but she would rely on the first-round bye to give her enough time to recover. Halep made it all the way to the finals at the Australian Open but fell short in her quest for the grand slam. What is also working against her is an ankle injury. She fought her way through the Aussie Open but she’s likely going to take some time off to rest and recuperate.
Jelena Ostapenko, the French Open champion, is here as a top-four seed, as is Caroline Garcia, who surged late last season to become a big presence on the WTA Tour. Defending champion Kristina Mladenovic is the fifth seed, trying to get out of a long slump in singles. Julia Goerges, who had won 15 straight matches until losing in the second round of the Australian Open, is seeded outside the top four but will be dangerous here.
Sibur Arena / Dynamo Tennis Center
The 2018 St. Petersburg WTA event will take place on the larger campus of the Dynamo Tennis Center and the club which resides within it. The main central venue is Sibur Arena, a stadium which began to be built in 2010 and was completed in 2013, seating nearly 7,000 people for the main court at this tournament. This is an indoor event as part of the winter swing, removed from Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, where more summery conditions prevail at this point on the calendar.
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