Some of the world's finest women tennis talents will be in action in the main draw of the Ilana Kloss International, the ITF $25,000 prize money tournament, starting on Tuesday in Tshwane.
Two of the main-draw players are in the top-200 of the WTA tour rankings with Turkey's Ipek Oz at 190-world ranked and Mai Hontama of Japan who slot in at 198.
Oz is the top seed and will begin her campaign against world No. 394 Isabella Shinkova. Oz was drawn against the Bulgarian player during the draw on Monday at TuksTennis, University of Pretoria.
Behind Oz is Hontama, the second seed who faces Clara Vlasselaer of Belgium in the first round. The Belgian booked her place in the main draw through the qualifying rounds.
The main draw features four South Africans. The first player is Isabella Kruger (346th in the world), the country's No. 1 player who will lead the charge. Other players include Claire Jaramba, Naledi Manyube, and Suzanie Pretorius who received wild cards.
?? Wild Cards Announced!
— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) March 3, 2023
The main draw wild cards for the #IlanaKlossInternational, an @ITFTennis $25,000 women's event have been awarded to emerging South African tennis stars ??
?? Naledi Manyube
?? Suzanie Pretorius
?? Claire Jaramba
Read ?? https://t.co/UCBqllSAMY pic.twitter.com/YUULIRp7Vg
Kruger, who finished in the semifinals of the 2022 event, is South Africa's best bet for the title, and she hopes to go one step further in this year's event. Kruger's first match will be against fellow countrywoman Claire Jaramba on Tuesday.
The Capetonian could face fourth seed Lina Glushko of Israel in the second round, who is up against Naledi Manyube in the first round.
"This year has some really strong players and some really good matches lined up for tomorrow and Wednesday," Kruger said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how everything turns out. I am excited for my match tomorrow which is against a South African player in the first round which I wish could have happened later in the tournament, but I look forward to it.
"I'm doing my best to get ready for the match, and I'm looking forward to it.
Kruger, 17, is in good shape after competing in several high-level events last season, including W25, W60, and W80 events in Europe and Asia.
Suzanie Pretorius of South Africa will face fifth seed Lulu Sun of Switzerland in the first round.
SEEDS:
1. Ipek Oz (TUR)
2. Mai Hontama (JPN)
3. Selena Janicijevic (FRA)
4. Lina Glushko (ISR)
5. Lulu Sun (SUI)
6. Alice Robbe (FRA)
7. Berfu Cengiz (TUR)
8. Emina Bektas (USA)