Serena Williams, Ashleigh Barty and Stan Wawrinka to headline Australian Open warm-ups in Melbourne

ByEnis Koylu

Updated 07/01/2021 at 11:07 GMT

The ATP And WTA have released their fields for the four Australian Open warm-up tournaments, which will take place at Melbourne Park before the first Grand Slam of the 2021. The likes of Serena Williams, Bianca Andreescu and Ashleigh Barty will play in the women's tournaments, while Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios will star in the men's.

Serena Williams will kick off her season at one of the WTA's two 500 events to be held in Melbourne Park before the Australian Open, the Gippsland Trophy and the Yarra Valley Classic, which start on February 1.

With 2021's first Grand Slam delayed until February because players will be subject to the same coronavirus quarantine restrictions as the general public, traditional warm-up tournaments have been cancelled, with replacements to be played all in Melbourne itself.

And Tennis Australia has attracted a host of stars across the men's and women's games to take place once their hotel quarantine periods are over.

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There will be two WTA 500 events, the Gippsland Trophy and the Yarra Valley Classic. The likes of Simona Halep, Williams, Johanna Konta and Sofia Kenin will all feature in one of the two, with the acceptance list split across the two tournaments.

The two tournaments will also play host to long-awaited comebacks for World No 1 Ashleigh Barty, who elected to sit out much of 2020 due to travel difficulties, and Bianca Andreescu, who has not played since the 2019 WTA Finals due to injuries and the pandemic.

In addition, there will also be two ATP 250 events.

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David Goffin leads the field for the Great Ocean Road Open, which will also feature the likes of Kyle Edmund and Karen Khachanov, while Stan Wawrinka will be the top seed at the Murray River Open, coming up against Grigor Dimitrov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Marin Cilic amongst others.

Nick Kyrgios, an outspoken opponent of those playing during the worst of the pandemic in Europe and North America, will make his comeback at the Murray River Open.

Many of the men's players will hone their skills ahead of the Open by playing in the ATP Cup, which will be played at Melbourne Park from February 1 to February 5, the same time as the Great Ocean Road and Murray River Opens.

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