NEXT January, Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur will get the chance to play the Brisbane International, following a change in the tournament's status by the WTA.
The governing body for women's tennis has upgraded Brisbane to Premier level, or one below the Grand Slams.
It will now pit Brisbane against the Sydney tournament a week later in trying to attract the game's biggest names.
Brisbane was formerly an International-level tournament, meaning it could have only one top-10 player.
The defending champion from 2010, Clijsters, wanted to return last January but Stosur committed before her with her then-career-high ranking of No 6.
Not only was Clijsters unable to compete, so was then-No 1 Caroline Wozniacki and other top 10 players like Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka, who won the inaugural Brisbane event in 2009.
But now Brisbane, like Sydney, can have an unlimited number of top-10 players sign up. The Queensland capital might be a more tempting stage to begin their run to the year's first Grand Slam in Melbourne as after Brisbane, they can have a week's rest before the Australian Open. The Sydney International runs the week before Melbourne.
The upgrade also means a substantial jump in prizemoney for the women's side of the draw. The ATP jointly runs a men's event in Brisbane.
The women's value will jump from $220,000 to $655,000, with the winner's cheque jumping from $37,000 to $103,000.
"This decision is the ultimate endorsement of the event, Brisbane and Queensland," tournament director Cameron Pearson said.
The Australian
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