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Adelaide, Dec. 17 (IANS): The Adelaide International 2 boasts a stellar entry list, which includes the entirety of the WTA Tour's Top 4, including World No.1 Iga Swiatek and No.2 Ons Jabeur.
World No.3 Jessica Pegula and WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia have also entered the WTA 500 event, which takes place during Week 2 of the new 2023 season and begins on January 9.
Notably, Adelaide 2 is the second leg of Adelaide's Festival of Tennis, a two-week span that sees the city host back-to-back WTA 500 events at The Drive. The tournament is the last WTA 500 tournament before the Australian Open, which begins on January 16.
With a main-draw cutoff at No.22, Adelaide 2 also features No.8 Daria Kasatkina, No.9 Veronika Kudermetova. 2022 Adelaide 250 champion Madison Keys has also entered the tournament, as well as 2022 Sydney champion Paula Badosa.
As per WTA, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who advanced to the final in her last appearance in Adelaide last year, is also set to play.
The Drive has been fertile ground for Swiatek in her past two appearances. She won the 2021 Adelaide 250 and made the semifinals last year, where she lost to Ashleigh Barty. Swiatek, Pegula, and Garcia are set to play Adelaide after representing their respective countries at the inaugural United Cup.
On the other hand, Jabeur, Kasatkina and Kudermetova will have an extended two-week residency, having also entered Adelaide 1 the week before.
The next five main-draw alternates are Bianca Andreescu, Amanda Anisimova, Zhang Shuai, Victoria Azarenka,and Zheng Qinwen.