Preparations at the 2017 Apia International in Sydney continued on Saturday as the final tournament before the Australian Open is quickly heading towards the start of main-draw play.
The many courts of Sydney’s Olympic Park Tennis Center buzzed with activity as the second-round of the tournament’s qualifying stage completed with players such as Naomi Broady, Christina McHale, Donna Vekic and Irina Falconi advancing into the qualifying finals.
As the qualifiers were battling for their main-draw spot, several high-profile players used the day to prepare for the tournament, including world #1 Angelique Kerber, fan favorite Eugenie Bouchard, as well as local fan favorites Sam Stosur and Daria Gavrilova, who all put in the hours on the practice courts.
While both qualifying and practice kept the courts on the ground busy, Zhang Shuai assisted with making the draw for the tournament and the Chinese world #23 did a proper job, setting some cracking first-round matches.
Fans in Sydney will get to see Karolina Pliskova vs. Sloane Stephens, Elina Svitlolina vs. Monica Puig and Sam Stosur against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, all in the first round of the packed main draw.
Main-draw play at the 2017 Apia International in Sydney is due to kick off on Sunday, with the women’s final to be held on Friday evening the following week. Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for all the latest from Sydney, all week long.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2017 APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEY:
