Olivia Rogowska will return to the Moorilla Hobart International in January with the Victorian teenager awarded a wildcard into the tournament today.
Rogowska, who made her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut at the Moorilla Hobart International in January this year, receives the wildcard off the back of a fantastic first year on tour.
Fed Cup coach and national selector David Taylor said Rogowska had earned the wildcard. “Olivia has had a fantastic year, scaling the world rankings and showing good form against tough opponents on the international stage.
Her form on the Australian Pro Tour was good and her performance at the Wildcard Play-off was worthy of this opportunity,” Taylor said.
Eighteen-year-old Rogowska came to the Australian public’s attention in June following her first round defeat of top 50 player, Maria Kirilenko (RUS), and by being one match away from qualifying for the main draw of Wimbledon. However, it was her US Open match against then world No.1 Dinara Safina (RUS) in August, winning the first set and narrowly going down in the third, that thrust her into the international spotlight.
Moorilla Hobart International Tournament Director Michael Roberts is pleased to see Rogowska return to Hobart and says she is a fantastic addition to the already strong line up.
“Olivia has proven she can match it with the top female players throughout the year and will be one of the players to watch at the Moorilla Hobart International in January,” Roberts said.
“Her performance in 2009 has been another example that the Moorilla Hobart International is a breading ground for future stars and I am looking forward to watching her play 12-months on.”
More recently she has achieved success on the Australian Pro Tour, winning the Cliffs Esperance International defeating Alicia Molik, and finishing runner up to Molik the following week in Kalgoorlie.
She also made the Bundaberg final, Ipswich and Darwin semifinals and Mildura quarterfinals and has improved her ranking by more than 300 spots since the beginning of the year. Finishing runner up to Casey Dellacqua in the Australian Open Play-off at Melbourne Park last week, Rogowska was this week awarded a wildcard into Australian Open 2010.
Tickets are now on sale for the Moorilla Hobart International through Ticketek, with tickets starting at just $9.90.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketek.com.au or 1300 888 104.