The fifth Ilkley Trophy, an LTA summer grass court event, brings professional tennis players ranked within the global top 100 to Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club (ILTSC) for a week-long tournament from 17-23 June.
Nine women ranked between 50 and 100 in the world will be hitting Ilkley’s grass courts while leading the men’s charge for 2019 is one of the ATP Next Generation, 20-year-old Ugo Humbert from France, currently surging up the rankings to a career best of 61 following his biggest win in Marseille earlier this year over world No.13 Borna Coric.
The 20 women players accepted direct into the main draw include world No.53 (formerly No.11 – 2017) Kristina Mladenovic, who is also world No.4 in doubles. Mladenovic is best known for her doubles career so far, winning the 2013 Wimbledon and 2014 Australian Open mixed doubles and most recently the 2018 Australian Open women's doubles title with Tímea Babos.
Mladenovic’s compatriot and fellow France Fed Cup team member Pauline Parmentier returns to Ilkley, aiming to build on her 2018 haul of two WTA singles titles.
2016 Ilkley Champion Evgeniya Rodina, currently ranked No.70 in the world, also returns alongside 2017 champion Magdalena Rybarikova, who notably went on from Ilkley to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon. 2018 Ilkley Champion Tereza Smitkova will also be back to defend her title.
Australian Jordan Thompson returns to Ilkley for the fourth time. Currently ranked world No.69, this is the highest singles ranking Thompson will have enjoyed as he goes into Ilkley and he will be hoping that this will be his year to take the title.
World No.83, Marius Copil, comes to Ilkley following a successful 2018 which saw him reach his first ATP World Tour-level final and also notch up two wins over top 10 players.
Denis Istomin will be aiming to improve his ranking towards his career high of No.33 in Ilkley. Istomin is perhaps best known for his performance at the 2017 Australian Open when, then ranked No.117 in the world, he caused major upset by coming back from two sets to one down to beat Novak Djokovic in the second round.
View the full player entry list.
Packed to the baseline with elite sports men and women seeking grass court practice, prize money and ranking points, the tournament also offers a potential wild card to Wimbledon for the champion.
ILTSC General Manager and Ilkley Trophy Tournament Director Charlie Maunder commented: “It’s fantastic to see that we’ve attracted another strong list of players. There are more players in the top 100 coming to Ilkley this year than we’ve had in the last couple of years which means that we know the standard of tennis will be incredibly high, it’s an outstanding opportunity to see these players.”
Catch courtside action this summer
Watch the stars in action and secure your ticket today. Tickets start from £5.50 for children aged 16 and under, and £11 for adults.