The Melbourne Summer Set, comprising two WTA 250 and one ATP 250 tournaments, will feature some of the world's biggest names warming up for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park from 3-9 January, including Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka
Friday 10 December 2021 16:46, UK
Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka will headline two women's warm-up tournaments taking place over two weeks at Melbourne Park ahead of the Australian Open.
British teenager Raducanu will use the tournament to acclimatise to Australian conditions on her first visit to Melbourne Park as she looks to build on her sensational run to the US Open title at Flushing Meadows.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, now ranked 13th in the world, will return to action after cutting short her 2021 season after her exit from the US Open in a year when she withdrew from the French Open and skipped Wimbledon, citing mental health issues.
World No 1 Ashleigh Barty will kick off her campaign at the Adelaide International warm-up.
Barty, who won the tournament in its inaugural year in 2020, last played competitively at Flushing Meadows in early September before returning home to Australia.
Barty, who was named WTA Player of the Year this week after winning five titles in 2021, will be joined at Memorial Drive by Iga Swiatek, Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova.
Aryna Sabalenka and Leylah Fernandez will also play in Adelaide, which will host nine out of the top 10 players in the women's world rankings.
Rafael Nadal joins Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori in the ATP 250 Melbourne Summer Set.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner, who was forced to pull out of the US Open and call an early end to his 2021 season after aggravating a foot injury, has decided not to take part in the ATP Cup in Sydney in the first week of the year.
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