British Number 1 Johanna Konta is just one of a host of top tennis stars who will be visiting Nottingham this summer. Last year Jo narrowly lost out in a thrilling two and a half hour final, which was played out under the blazing sun (yes that’s right, your eyes don’t deceive you – sun) as temperatures soared to an unbelievable 30 degrees!
Reigning champion Donna Vekić has already confirmed that she will also be returning to Nottingham so it should definitely be game on...
On winning her first grass-court crown, Croatian 20 year old Vekić commented, "It’s pretty amazing. I’m really happy. The last time I won a final, I wasn’t allowed to have champagne.”
Looking ahead to this year’s event she said, "I'm so excited to be returning. It was such an incredible feeling to win the event."
Just two weeks after their nail-biting final here in Nottingham last year, the pair faced off in the second round at Wimbledon in another memorable match which Konta took 10-8 in the third set, so expect a close match if they are drawn against each other again this summer.
In recent years Nottingham has played host to an array of top tennis talent including; Jamie Murray, Kyle Edmund, Heather Watson, Laura Robson, Dominic Inglot, current Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, Nick Kyrgios, Agnieszka Radwańska, David Ferrer, Dominic Thiem, Feliciano López and Karolina Plíšková.
Just last weekend 20 year old Japanese rising star Naomi Osaka won the title in Indian Wells, California, defeating the likes of Maria Sharapova and current world number 1 Simona Halep en-route. Osaka played right here on the courts in Nottingham last year! It’s exciting to think who could be taking to the courts in Nottingham this summer.
Team GB’s Davis Cup hero and rising star Cameron Norrie, who defeated Spanish World number 23 Roberto Bautista-Agut (on the clay in Spain!!) in 5 incredible sets last month, also competed right here in Nottingham just last summer.
With more exciting player announcements for 2018 expected imminently, Nottingham is clearly the place to be for world-class entertainment this summer!
And yes we know that at the moment as we all shiver under the snow clouds of the somewhat hilariously named #Beast from the East (aka the artist formally known as winter), summertime may begin to seem like just the memory of a dream, remember that in less than 3 months (yes seriously!) you could be basking in the sunshine (ok so I admit our fingers are firmly crossed on that one – but it worked out brilliantly last year!!) on the Centre Court at the Nottingham Open enjoying your strawberries and cream and drinking Pimms.
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