Days after confirming that she will be returning from maternity leave at Wimbledon, former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka has now confirmed that she will first play at the WTA Mallorca Open in June.
The two-time former Wimbledon semi-finalist announced the news through the official social media channels of the tournament.
“I am very excited to announce that I will be playing in Mallorca as my first tournament,” she said. “I have never been there, so I am looking forward to visit [Mallorca] and I am looking forward to play [in the tournament].”
The 27-year-old has not played in the Tour since retiring in her first round match at the 2016 French Open against Italy’s Karin Knapp. The Belarusian later went on to announce her pregnancy and her eventual withdrawal from the rest of the season. She had, however, committed to rejoin the tennis circuit following the birth of her child, a son to whom she gave birth in December 2016.
Previously, Azarenka had outlined the Stanford Open, which is played on outdoor hard courts in July, as her first tournament, with the news of her playing Wimbledon coming as a pleasant surprise to the otherwise troubled WTA Tour.
Azarenka, who was ranked fifth in the world at the time when she took a step back due to her personal commitments, will be covered by the WTA’s special ranking regulation.
Former Wimbledon finalist, and grass-court specialist, Sabine Lisicki will be playing her first WTA tournament for the 2017 season in Mallorca as well. Once ranked as high as 12th in the world, Lisicki has dropped out of the top-100 after missing nearly five months of the 2017 season with injuries.