ROME – Two Grand Slam champions. A finalist from last year’s French Open. A handful of top-20 players.With second-ranked Simona Halep joined by 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and last year’s Roland Garros finalist Markéta Vondroušová, this year’s Palermo Ladies Open tennis tournament will be like no other.“The entry list is incredible.
It’s practically like a Premier,” tournament director Oliviero Palma said in a phone interview with The Associated Press this week, referring to the WTA Tour’s top-level events.Also entered are No.
14 Johanna Konta, No. 14 Petra Martić and No. 20 Maria Sakkari.The reason for such a high-profile field in a small clay-court tournament usually skipped over by top players is simple: The Aug.