American and Dutch teams receive main draw wildcards

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Can last year's silver medalists, Agatha and Duda, go one better in Fort Lauderdale later this month?

With the news that last year’s champions Larissa and Talita will be missing the 2018 season, there will be two new faces on top of this year’s Fort Lauderdale Major podium.

The question is: who?

Well the women’s tournament is wide open with a host of top stars confirmed among the 24 teams guaranteed a place in the main draw.

They include wildcards Brooke Sweat and Summer Ross of the USA and the Netherlands’ Joy Stubbe and Marleen van Iersel.

The top-ranked team, based on ranking points obtained in the last year, are Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who missed last season’s tournament due to Pavan’s indoor commitments.

Last year’s runners-up, Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Santos Lisboa, aka Duda, are one of three Brazilian teams in the main draw line-up, while host nation USA have four spots, including April Ross and Alix Klineman, who won gold in The Hague last month and are unbeaten in 10 matches, and rising stars Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes.

Despite Olympic and World champs Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst being out of action, Europe’s hopes of securing a podium place remain strong with five of the top seven teams hailing from the continent. Among them are last season’s bronze medalists, Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany and Czech stars Barbora Hermannová and Marketa Sluková.

If you’d like to know the rest of the teams who will go into battle on the beach in Florida from February 27, just click here to see full list. 

Click here for details on the men's entry list.