This month's Lexus W100 Shrewsbury tournament is set to be the strongest ITF World Tennis Tour tournament ever held at The Shrewsbury Club.

A host of players ranked in the world’s top 150 - including five in the current top 100 - have entered the prestigious tournament, which will be played between October 13-20.  

A number of leading British stars also feature on the initial acceptance list, including Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Heather Watson, last year’s runner-up Amarni Banks and Jodie Burrage, as world class tennis returns to Shropshire.

The W100 Shrewsbury event, which will be played on the indoor courts at the Sundorne Road venue, is the biggest women’s tennis tournament, outside of the grass court season, to be played in the UK this year. 

The highest ranked player to have entered next month’s tournament is Spain’s Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, currently 81 in the world, one place higher than Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands, who is also on the initial acceptance list.

Maria Lourdes Carle from Argentina, French ace Oceane Dodin and Serbia’s Olga Danilovic are the other players currently in the world’s top 100 to have entered the Shrewsbury event.

British number four Kartal, who broke into the world’s top 100 for the first time after winning her first WTA title in Tunisia earlier this month, leads the British challenge. 

Kartal progressed from the qualifying rounds to reach the third round at Wimbledon earlier this year, with her fine run at SW19 eventually ended by second seed Coco Gauff.

A strong entry list also includes Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Slovakia, who lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in the bronze medal match at the recent Olympics, following a brilliant run in Paris which saw Schmiedlova beat both of this year’s Wimbledon finalists Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini.

Dave Courteen, The Shrewsbury Club’s managing director, said: “It’s always been the case that we have attracted top players, but this year, as it stands, every player in the main draw is currently ranked in the world’s top 150, so that’s an incredible indication of just how highly regarded this tournament is by the players.

”We are really looking forward to welcoming back players that have been here before. Oceane Dodin is the only player to have won the Shrewsbury title twice and is set to be one of the seeded players. 

“Sonay Kartal has had success here when she won the UK Pro League title in 2021 and has always played well at Shrewsbury, so we are really excited that she will be coming back, along with a number of other leading British players.  

“Amarni Banks enjoyed a brilliant run to the final here last year, so it will be nice to see her playing in Shrewsbury again, while Eva Lys, runner-up the year before when she lost to Marketa Vondrousova in the final, also features on the initial entry list.”

The W100 Shrewsbury is part of the LTA’s Performance Competitions Calendar, which is designed to provide British players with the chance to develop on home soil through more meaningful playing opportunities, giving them the widest possible number of competitive matches on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

Richard Joyner, the W100 Shrewsbury tournament director for the LTA, added: “We are once again delighted to be returning to Shrewsbury. It’s always a very popular stop on the tour for the players who speak very fondly of the event.

“The initial entry list is the strongest list we’ve had for a Shrewsbury tournament and we are looking forward to what will be a great event.”

Ticket prices, which include a 40-page tournament programme, start from £7.50, with finals day tickets to enjoy both the singles and doubles finals on Sunday, October 20 priced £22.50.

Tournament passes to watch all matches throughout the week from court-side stands are available for £67.50.

Tickets can be purchased via the tournament website at https://worldtennistourshrewsbury.com/tickets-and-events/#tickets