HOBART, January 3, 2019

Australian world No. 177 Ellen Perez (NSW) has been awarded a main draw wildcard into the 2019 Hobart International.

This will be 23-year-old Perez’s first Hobart International main draw appearance and follows a breakout 2018 season, which included a first WTA main draw win upsetting of former world No.10 Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) at last year’s Sydney International.

“I’m really looking forward to competing in my first ever Hobart International, I’ve played at Launceston and Burnie in Tasmania before, but this will be my first ever appearance at Hobart and I’m really looking forward to competing at the event,” Perez said.

“I’m grateful for being given the opportunity to compete at this level and I’m going to go out and give it my all,” Perez continued.

Perez had a stellar 2018, currently sitting at a career high ranking of No. 177. She won seven ITF doubles titles and made five ITF singles finals.

“We are thrilled to announce our first Australian singles main draw competitor for Hobart International and couldn’t be more happy to welcome Ellen Perez to the tournament,” Hobart International Tournament Director Darren Sturgess said.

“Ellen has been a really consistent and competitive player for the past two years, making some big break throughs on the professional circuit and I’m sure she’ll bring that nature to Hobart when she plays,” Sturgess continued.

Ellen is the first wildcard to be announced for the event, with more to be announced in the coming days.

The tournament gets underway on Saturday 5 January, with the tournaments’ Free Family Weekend which coincides with qualifying for the event. Fans of all ages can access Domain Tennis Centre for free on both Saturday and Sunday ahead of main draw action which gets underway on Monday 7 January.

Tickets are now on sale via Ticketek