Sabalenka, Kenin, Andreescu and Swiatek set for Eastbourne tennis week

Six of the world’s top ten players are expected to headline an exciting provisional women’s field for the LTA’s 2021 Viking International at Eastbourne's Devonshire Park in June.
Aryna Sabalenka in action in the recent Madrid Open / Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesAryna Sabalenka in action in the recent Madrid Open / Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Aryna Sabalenka in action in the recent Madrid Open / Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

The event is one of the LTA’s summer grass court series events at Nottingham, Birmingham and Queens that lead up to The Championships, Wimbledon.

World No.4 Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus leads the field and will be hoping to recapture the form that took her all the way to the final in 2018. Joining her will be three Grand Slam champions, 2019 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin from USA, currently ranked No.5 and making her debut in Eastbourne 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu from Canada, who sits at No.7 in the rankings and 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek from Poland, World No.9. Ukrainian Elina Svitolina at No.6 and defending champion Czech Karolina Pliskova at No.10 make up a strong showing from the top ten.

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The excitement doesn’t end there, limited tickets are available to watch live tennis and home fans will have local star Johanna Konta to cheer on. The British No.1 has enjoyed plenty of success at Devonshire Park making runs to the semifinals in both 2015 and 2016 and is happy to be heading back to the south coast:

“I’m really excited to be back playing on the grass in Eastbourne once again,” said Konta. “It’s a very special tournament for me and I have some amazing memories from Devonshire Park, which all start and end with the incredible atmosphere created by the crowds there. It’s absolutely fantastic news that we’ll have some fans allowed in to watch this year and I know all of the players will really appreciate having them back.”

Teen sensation 17 year-old Coco Gauff who made waves at Wimbledon in 2019 when she defeated Venus Williams en route to the round of 16 as a 15 year-old will also make her debut at the Viking International Eastbourne.

“We're delighted to be welcoming the players to the LTA’s Viking International Eastbourne and we are even happier to welcome back fans to Devonshire Park after missing 2020,” said LTA Tournament Director Gavin Fletcher.

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The official women’s entry list will be confirmed by the WTA later next week. This complements the men’s that was announced earlier in the week, which includes Gael Monfils, Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic and fast-rising Brit, Cameron Norrie.

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