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Defending champion Kim Clijsters will have a run at the Luxembourg Tennis Masters title once again this year as she will be joined by former Estonian star Anett Kontaveit who also set to feature in the competition. The stage is set for the second edition as the lineup includes eight former tennis stars who will battle it out against each other at the Centre National Sportif et Culturel du Luxembourg.
The competition is set to commence on 19 October 2023 (Thursday) with the final set to be played on 22 October 2023 (Sunday). Slovakian star Daniela Hantuchova, German ace Andrea Petkovic, and Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic are the other notable names apart from Clijsters and Kontaveit.
Monica Puig from Puerto Rica and French star Pauline Parmentier will also be featuring alongside local star Mandy Minella. The inaugural edition of this invitational tennis tournament began last year and the basic idea behind the competition hosted by the Luxembourg Tennis Federation is to allow former and retired women's players to play an impressive brand of tennis every year.
With four former top 10 ranked stars chosen from the list of retired inductees along with four other former top 50 ranked players, the competition offers a lot more than just an exhibition tourney. With the total prize money of €110,000 allotted for the tournament, the players will not leave empty-handed irrespective of their performance. While the winner will take home €,50,000, the runner-up will be awarded €20,000.
How did Kim Clijsters manage to become the champion of the inaugural season?
The first season of the Luxembourg Tennis Masters featured the likes of Martina Hingis and Agnieszka Radwanska and little did anyone expect Kim Clijsters to emerge victorious among the lot. The four-time Major winner didn't face any trouble at all beating Luxembourg's very own Mandy Minella in the quarterfinals with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-1.
In the semifinals, she was up against Agnieszka Radwanska and the match turned out to be one of the best in the entire competition. With Clijsters wrapping up the first set, everyone expected it to be a walk in the park for the Belgium ace but Radwanska pulled off an incredible comeback in the second set thereby taking it to the decider.
The intensity of the match increased after the Pole won the second set, and the match was set to be decided by a tie-breaker. Eventually, it was the former World No.1 Kim Clijsters who held on her nerves to win the match by 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-7. In the finals, it was the match between the top two seeded players of the competition. Tournament favorite Martina Hingis was shocked by Kim as the Swiss suffered a straight sets defeat handing Clijsters the title.
