Two Grand Slam winners will kick off their 2022 seasons competing in the Melbourne Summer Set - four-time major titlist Naomi Osaka and two-time major titlist Simona Halep.
The duo lead the entry list for the two WTA 250 tournaments scheduled to run from 3-9 January. The entry list will be split between the tournaments in the week of 27 December.
Updated: Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Melbourne Summer Set but still plans to compete at the Australian Open.
Osaka will be playing for the first time since falling in the US Open third round to eventual finalist Leylah Fernandez. Halep, who endured an injury-struck 2021, will be seeking to build on an autumn resurgence that saw her reach the Cluj-Napoca final on home soil.
The stage is SET 🏆@RafaelNadal and @naomiosaka will start the 2022 season in Victoria, headlining the Melbourne Summer Set ahead of #AO2022.
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) December 10, 2021
Tickets will go on sale via @Ticketmaster_AU at 12:00 pm AEDT Friday 17 December. https://t.co/WVRFnqHqgB
Also on the list are Elise Mertens, winner of the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne last year, and teenage up-and-comers Clara Tauson, Marta Kostyuk and Camila Osorio. Tauson's breakthrough 2021 season involved the Dane's first two WTA titles in Lyon and Luxembourg, while Osorio took her maiden trophy at home in Bogota and capped her year with a first hardcourt final in Tenerife.
Former Top 10 players Daria Kasatkina, Madison Keys and Caroline Garcia will also begin 2022 in Melbourne, as well as Australian Open quarterfinalist Jessica Pegula.
Montréal champion Camila Giorgi, three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva, Berlin winner Liudmila Samsonova, doubles World No.1 Katerina Siniakova and Egypt's trailblazing Mayar Sherif are also on the entry list.
Click here to view the full 2022 Melbourne Summer Set entry list.