Simona Halep will be definitely the biggest star at the 31st Palermo Ladies Open. The 28-years-old 2-time Grand Slam champion and current no. 2 will be leading the star-studded field in Palermo from 3rd August. Now, Palermo Ladies Open tournament director, Oliviero Palma spoke about the participation of the Romanian as well as the wild cards for the tournament.

“The entry list is simply fantastic: it begins with world’s number 2 and ends with number 69. And it is not over yet, as the 31st of July is still far. We didn’t expect this kind of participation. I’ll be honest, we didn’t convince Halep to come to Palermo. She convinced herself because she wanted to play and because Palermo, Sicily, and Italy are safe places. We’re very happy for that.”

“For the first time, we‘ll host an inaugural ceremony. We want to dedicate this restart to all those who sacrificed their life for the common good – health workers. And it is also the restart of world tennis and it we want to celebrate the solemnity of the moment. We’ll surely give wild cards to Italy’s best players: Camila Giorgi and Jasmine Paolini for the Main Draw, and the rest of the Fed Cup team for Qualifiers. In case one of them were unavailable, the first substitute would be the best Sicilian player.”

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