The 2019 Kooyong Classic will see some of the top players feature in the competition in the upcoming edition with the likes of Kevin Anderson and Marin Cilic joining Juan Martin del Potro in Melbourne.
All the aforementioned names are some of the biggest behind the Big Four, with Anderson having made it to the 2018 Wimbledon final after a similar appearance at the 2017 US Open as well. Both times he lost the final but that saw him qualify for the World Tour Finals.
Cilic, on the other hand, was the finalist at the Australian Open earlier this year while del Potro is a former US Open champion and has shown chutzpah during his comeback from injury over the last two years.
The tournament will be an eight-man, three-day event with players seeded according to their current ranking. They feature in a knock-out competition starting off with the quarter-final round which is followed by the semi-finals and the final on the third day.
The players losing in the first round also feature in the playoffs matches to decide which player finishes at what position.
Incidentally, Cilic made the decision to feature in the Kooyong Classic just days after he had had helped Croatia beat France in the 2018 Davis Cup final.
Tournament director Peter Johnston said of the decision to have Cilic feature in the tournament:
“It’s great to have Marin back at Kooyong. Last year it served him well as a lead-up to the Australian Open when he reached the final before losing in five sets to Roger Federer.”
Kei Nishikori will also be a part of the tournament, looking to prepare for the Australian Open with a hit at the Kooyong Classic.
The women’s draw of the competition will see the presence of Coco Vandeweghe, while the rest of the players are yet to be announced. Incidentally, the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Eugenie Bouchard had all participated in the previous edition of the Kooyong Classic.
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