Jelena Dokic and Ana Ivanovic will join Kim Clijsters in the women’s draw after Brisbane International organisers on Thursday bolstered the drawcards for the first tennis tournament of 2010.
Along with the announcements of crowd favourites Dokic and Ivanovic, Frenchman Gael Monfils and American James Blake were officially named for the January 3-10 tournament at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
Monfils and Blake will make their debuts at Pat Rafter Arena in the build-up to the Australian Open and challenge headline act Andy Roddick.
Tournament director Steve Ayles said the Brisbane International was close to announcing more big names with the deadline for entry into the event November 22.
Australian tennis’s prodigal daughter, Dokic will return to Rafter Arena after beginning her emotional ride into this year’s Australian Open quarter-finals in Brisbane, where she lost in two tiebreakers to France’s Amelie Mauresmo.
Former world No.1 Ivanovic, who also began her 2009 Open preparations with a fortnight in Queensland, was the top seed in the inaugural event but crashed out in the quarterfinals to Mauresmo.
The 2008 French Open champion, who has family in Melbourne, has indicated she will again base her preparations in the sunshine state.
“I think that’s the ultimate endorsement for the tournament, the city and the state,” Ayles said.
“She’s coming back to do exactly the same but she’s coming even earlier.”