Ilkley Trophy: Former French Open semi-finalist Andrea Petkovic joins defending champion in women's draw
The German was one of 13 top 100 ranked women revealed on Thursday which represents the most in the three-year history of the tournament.
Petkovic reached the last four at Roland Garros in 2014 but has slipped down the rankings in recent years and now sits at world No. 79.
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Hide AdFormer world No. 12 Yanina Wickmayer, of Belgium, also features in the draw alongside France's Oceane Dodin, ranked 56, and Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic.
Russia's Evgeniya Rodina won the competition in 2016 and will return to defend her title. France’s Pauline Parmentier, who reached the second round at the French Open, is also in the draw.
The women's event is offering prize money of up to £100,000 – more than double previous Ilkley championships.
The men's Challenger event has a £150,000 prize purse and will feature former Wilmbledon doubles champion Jurgen Melzer.
Wildcard entries will be revealed next week.
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Hide AdCharlie Maunder, Ilkley Tennis club manager, said: “It's fantastic to see that in just three years since the tournament came to Ilkley, we are now attracting such an incredible line up of women to the club.
“The increase in prize money available helps to put our tournament high on the agenda for those keen to practise their grass court skills in the run up to Wimbledon, offering Ilkley audiences an exceptional opportunity to see players who are pushing their way up the international rankings and we look forward to welcoming them all.”
Aegon Ilkley Trophy women’s main draw:
Oceane DODIN (FRA) #56
Viktorija GOLUBIC (SUI) #65
Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) #69
Andrea PETKOVIC (GER) #79
Evgeniya RODINA (RUS)#80
Pauline PARMENTIER (FRA) #81
Madison BRENGLE (USA) #82
Julia BOSERUP (USA)#85
Ekaterina ALEXANDROVA (RUS) #86
Kurumi NARA (JPN) #90
Magda LINETTE (POL) #94
Kristina KUCOVA (SVK) #95
Maria SAKKARI (GRE) #99
Tatjana MARIA (GER) #102
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Hide AdDenisa ALLERTOVA (CZE) #104
Ana BOGDAN (ROU) #106
Kai-Chen CHANG (TPE) #108
Magdalena RYBARIKOVA (SVK) #108(P)
Lin ZHU (CHN) #110
Xinyun HAN (CHN) #111
Maryna ZANEVSKA (BEL)#112
Alison VAN UYTVANCK (BEL) #113