Sydney, Dec 28 (IANS): World No 1 Iga Swiatek, Belinda Bencic, Petra Kvitova and many other stars of the WTA Tour have reached Down Under to begin the 2023 season in Australia.
The season officially starts on Thursday as the United Cup kicks off from three different locations around Australia, and will continue with WTA tournaments in Adelaide and Auckland, New Zealand later in Week 1.
After leading Switzerland to its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup in Glasgow in November, Belinda Bencic and Jil Teichmann are ready for more. The two top-ranked Swiss players have already been putting in the hard yards in Brisbane for their United Cup debut.
They're joined on the Swiss team by Marc-Andrea Husler, Ylena In-Albon, Dominic Stricker, Alexander Ritschard, Stan Wawrinka and Joanne Zuger, and the squad will take on Kazakhstan and Poland in Group B action.
Speaking of Poland, World No.1 Iga Swiatek touched down in Brisbane on the day after Christmas. She'll lead a Polish team that's set to be captained by former Wimbledon finalist and World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska, and Radwanska's husband Dawid Celt.
A two-time champion at the longtime WTA event in Sydney, Petra Kvitova will be back in a happy place when she represents the Czech Republic in the United Cup. She and the rest of the Czech team will face the U.S. and Germany in Group C action, and they were smiling big after a day of training on Tuesday.
As per WTA, some of the other teams enjoyed tourist time off the court.
In Perth, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Despina Papamichail and Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Team Greece spent a day at Rottnest Island, while Team Italy, including Matteo Berrettini, Lucia Bronzetti, Camila Rosatello and Martina Trevisan, enjoyed a scenic GoBoat ride on the Brisbane River.
While players already in Australia were enjoying all the country has to offer, others spent the Christmas holiday in transit.
2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu was one who spent her Christmas Day in the skies, but used social media to let fans know that she arrived safely in Adelaide. Paula Badosa, Alizé Cornet and Jelena Ostapenko were others who sent Christmas wishes to all from an airport on their way Down Under.
Meanwhile, others still will arrive in the coming days. Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza accepted a wildcard into the Adelaide International 1, while American teenager Coco Gauff will be the top seed at the first edition of the ASB Classic in Auckland in three years.