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Tennis action from the new season is only a few weeks away and big names have begun confirming their participation Down Under — for the first leg of the tournaments leading up to the 2023 Australian Open.
In the first major calendar update for 2023, Grand Slam champions Andy Murray, Petra Kvitova and Viktoria Azarenka, as well as Next Gen star Jannik Sinner, have been confirmed for the combined ATP and WTA events scheduled to be played in Adelaide.
Tournament organizers recently took to social media to make the announcement. While Murray and Sinner will appear in the Adelaide International 1 — scheduled to be played in the first week of January, Kvitova has been confirmed for the Adelaide International 2 — which is set to follow the season-opening tournament in the second week.
Azarenka, meanwhile, will be a part of both tournaments as per the information made available in the social media post.
"The Adelaide International is serving up two epic weeks of tennis, with the first tournament on from 1 – 8 January, and the second from 9 – 14 January. Don't miss your chance to sit courtside to all the action," the Instagram post read.
Both Murray and Kvitova have fond memories of having performed well on Australian soil. While the Brit boasts of a strong five finals appearances at the Australian Open between 2010 and 2016, the Czech southpaw also reached the summit clash of the year's first Grand Slam back in 2019.
The two ATP tournaments set to be played in Adelaide are 250-level events and will offer a total prize money of $642,735. The WTA events, meanwhile, are 500-level events.
Andy Murray, Petra Kvitova eye strong starts to 2023
Andy Murray ended his 2022 season with a first-round exit at the Paris Masters, losing a tight three-set match against Gilles Simon. He will be looking to make a positive start to the new season.
Petra Kvitova also made an early exit in her final tournament of the season at Guadalajara, losing in the second round to Bianca Andreescu. She has since taken some extra time off to prepare for the new season.
The Czech was recently spotted hitting the practice courts in Monaco with coach Jiri Vanek ahead of the new season. Kvitova battled a wrist injury at the of 2022 and will be looking to be in better shape heading into the new year.
