Fourth-ranked Maria Sharapova of Russia will be making her much-anticipated return to competitive tennis at the Brisbane International 2014 in December. This was confirmed by the tournament organizers on Thursday.
Sharapova has not played since her surprise opening round loss in Cincinnati. Prior to this, she made a second round exit at Wimbledon to then-world number 131 Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal last June.
Several high profile tennis stars have signed up for the Premier event which serves as a lucrative warm-up event for the Australian Open which runs from January 13 to 26. World number one and defending champion Serena Williams and second-ranked Victoria Azarenka have confirmed their participation.
“The caliber of the field assembled for Brisbane International 2014 is one of the greatest on record, and we’re certainly looking forward to welcoming the world’s top
players to Queensland Tennis Centre in December,” tournament director Cameron Pearson said.
Sharapova has a series of exhibition matches in Bogota, Mexico City and Thailand in December in preparation for the 2014 season. The men’s event will be headed by sixth-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland.
The Brisbane International has a $1 million prize purse for the women’s event while it’s $436,630 for the men’s event.
