KAIA Kanepi, who has reached five Grand Slam quarter-finals, heads an impressive women’s field for the Aegon Ilkley Trophy, which starts on June 13.

The Estonian, who is 30 next Wednesday, reached the last eight at Wimbledon in 2010 and 2012.

She reached the same stage of the French Open last year and in 2012 after making the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2010.

World No 50 Kanepi, whose serve has been timed at 180kph (almost 112mph), is one of eight players ranked in the top 100 to enter the $50,000 ITF Women’s Pro Circuit Tournament.

The second-ranked Annika Beck, who has won four Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) titles, reached the third round of this year’s French Open, and won in Luxembourg last year.

Kanepi apart, if it is a fast serve that you want, then look no further than Denisa Allertova from the Czech Republic.

The 22-year-old has been clocked at 124.9mph – the second quickest by a woman this year and the eighth fastest of all time.

Vitalia Diatchenko (Russia, 91), Pauline Parmentier (France, 95), Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland, 96), Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan, 99) and Andreea Mitu (Romania, 100) are the other top 100 players in the field.

Mitu defeated the 12th seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the current French Open, while there are another 14 players entered at Ilkley – the biggest tournament ever in Yorkshire – who are ranked between 101 and 120.

Among them is 21-year-old German, Anna-Lena Friedsam, who took the first set off Serena Williams in the second round of the French Open last Thursday before losing 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Among the players in qualifying is Japan’s remarkable Kimiko Date-Krumm, who is ranked 150 in the world despite being 44-year-old Leading the British challenge is 6ft 2in former Woodhouse Grove pupil Naomi Broady, whose brother Liam is in the entry for the $50,000 ATP Challenger, which is running alongside the women’s tournament.

Among the withdrawals is 1999 Wimbledon semi-finalist Alexandra Stevenson from the United States.

Ilkley is the newest addition to the Women’s ITF Pro Circuit and the Men’s ATP Challenger Tour and is part of the short grass court season in the run up to Wimbledon.

Charlie Maunder, the club’s general manager, said: “The quality of female players will offer spectators a showcase of world-class tennis never before seen on Yorkshire soil, with a top-50 seed and a dozen of the top 100 players.”

Tickets can be purchased by phone on 0844 5816903 or online at https://www.theticketfactory.com/ltaci/online/.