Back to Sharapova to start her 2015 in Brisbane

Sharapova to start her 2015 in Brisbane

1 October 2014, by brisbaneinternational.com.au

Reigning French Open champion Maria Sharapova will start one of the hot favourites for the women’s title.

Tthe world No.4 and five-time Grand Slam winner again choosing to start her year in the Sunshine State where she fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Serena Williams in 2014.

“Brisbane is such a great tournament, I’ve tried to make it so many years and I finally made it in 2014 and it was such a great experience. The fans were wonderful and the tournament organisation was great,” Sharapova said.

“You go to the tournament wanting to succeed and win it. This summer was a great result for me after not playing for a few months and I certainly look forward to coming back and doing better next year.”

The 27-year-old hopes a bumper crowd will again turn out at Pat Rafter Arena this summer and promised fans a great day out.

“Pat Rafter Arena is very unique, it’s very intimate. I feel like every fan gets a great perspective on the sport and the athletes and that’s very important when they’re in their seat, [that] they can see everything. I don’t think there’s a bad seat in the house really, the venue is great and I feel if I was a fan it’s a tournament I would want to go to and watch,” she said.

Sharapova will be joined in the women’s draw by Aussie favourite Sam Stosur, while Roger Federer, Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Lleyton Hewitt and Grigor Dimotrov have confirmed for the men’s field. More players will be announced in the coming weeks.

Ticket packages now on sale

Multiple session packages are on sale to the general public now, with single session tickets available from Wednesday 8 October at 9am.

> Purchase tickets now via Ticketek

> View the provisional schedule

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