Among them are the tournament's top seed Anna Bondár of Hungary, former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a Grand Slam finalist and Olympic doubles gold medallist. Croatian players Petra Marčinko, Tena Lukas, Ana Konjuh and Lucija Ćirić Bagarić will also take part, tournament director Feliks Lukas announced at a press conference in Zagreb earlier this week.
The WTA Dubrovnik Open will be held at the courts of the Dubrovnik Tennis Club in Lapad. It will be the first European WTA 125 tournament to open the spring clay-court season in Europe. In Croatia, the season will conclude with the WTA Makarska Open, traditionally staged in the first week of June.
"This tournament will be a great opportunity for our players to collect ranking points and build confidence, especially at a time when it is difficult to gain entry to tournaments," Lukas said. "This is particularly true for Ana Konjuh and Lucija Ćirić Bagarić, who are both from Dubrovnik and will be able to prepare better for the clay courts on home ground."
"The City of Dubrovnik is pleased and privileged to host an event like this. As part of our continued investment in sport, the courts in Lapad have recently been renovated and are now in excellent condition, and we are also planning to build a new multifunctional sports hall," said Dživo Brčić, head of department at the City of Dubrovnik.
Such a tournament also provides a significant boost to Croatian tourism. Krešimir Šamija, director of the Sports Department at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, said he was pleased that the world would see an image of tennis and Croatia worthy of both.