# 2021 Gippsland Trophy

The 2021 Gippsland Trophy was a tournament on the 2021 WTA Tour. It was played on outdoor hard courts in Melbourne, Australia. It was organised as a lead-up tournament to the 2021 Australian Open, and was held at the same venue, due to other tournaments in Australia being cancelled as a result from the COVID-19 pandemic. This tournament took place simultaneously with the 2021 Yarra Valley Classic and the 2021 Grampians Trophy. Players who had originally intended to participate in this tournament or the Yarra Valley Classic, but were forced to undergo strict quarantine measures upon arrival in Australia, were able to participate in the 2021 Grampians Trophy. The entry list of 2021 Australian Open was used to determine the entry list of this tournament; with half the players (selected randomly) playing the Gippsland Trophy, and the other half playing the 2021 Yarra Valley Classic.

## Champions
### Singles

* Elise Mertens def. Kaia Kanepi, 6–4, 6–1

### Doubles

* Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková def. Chan Hao-ching / Latisha Chan, 6–3, 7–6$^{(7–4)}$

## Points and prize money
### Point distribution

| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Round of 64 |
| Singles | 470 | 305 | 185 | 100 | 55 | 30 | 1 |
| Doubles | 470 | 305 | 185 | 100 | 55 | 1 | — |

### Prize money

| Event | W | F | SF | QF | Round of 16 | Round of 32 | Round of 64 |
| Singles | $50,000 | $33,520 | $18,610 | $8,770 | $5,500 | $4,250 | $3,000 |
| Doubles* | $20,890 | $13,370 | $8,350 | $4,310 | $2,670 | $2,020 | — |
$_{*perteam}$

## Singles main-draw entrants
### Seeds

| Country | Player | Rank$^1$ | Seed |
| ROU | Simona Halep | 2 | 1 |
| JPN | Naomi Osaka | 3 | 2 |
| UKR | Elina Svitolina | 5 | 3 |
| BLR | Aryna Sabalenka | 7 | 4 |
| GBR | Johanna Konta | 14 | 5 |
| POL | Iga Świątek | 17 | 6 |
| BEL | Elise Mertens | 20 | 7 |
| CZE | Karolína Muchová | 27 | 8 |
| RUS | Ekaterina Alexandrova | 33 | 9 |
| CHN | Wang Qiang | 34 | 10 |
| CHN | Zheng Saisai | 42 | 11 |
| FRA | Caroline Garcia | 44 | 12 |
| LAT | Jeļena Ostapenko | 45 | 13 |
| USA | Cori Gauff | 48 | 14 |
| SLO | Polona Hercog | 49 | 15 |
| GER | Laura Siegemund | 51 | 16 |
* $^1$ Rankings are as of 25 January 2021

### Other entrants

The following players received wildcards:
* Destanee Aiava
* Olivia Gadecki
* Arina Rodionova
* Astra Sharma
The following players received entry using a protected ranking into the Australian Open singles main draw, and hence this tournament as well:
* Katie Boulter
* Anastasia Potapova
* Wang Yafan
The following players received entry from the Australian Open qualifying draw:
* Tímea Babos
* Sara Errani
* Mayo Hibi
* Kaja Juvan
* Rebecca Marino
* Whitney Osuigwe
* Chloé Paquet
* Valeria Savinykh
The following players received entry into this tournament as they were potential lucky losers for the Australian Open singles main draw:
* Mihaela Buzărnescu
* Margarita Gasparyan
* Varvara Lepchenko
* Anna Karolína Schmiedlová
* Lesia Tsurenko
The following players received entry as an alternate:
* Caty McNally
* Monica Niculescu

### Withdrawals
#### Before the tournament

* Zarina Diyas → replaced by Monica Niculescu
* Nao Hibino → replaced by Caty McNally

#### During the tournament

* Karolína Muchová
* Naomi Osaka

## Doubles main-draw entrants
### Seeds

| Country | Player | Country | Player | Rank$^1$ | Seed |
| CZE | Barbora Krejčíková | CZE | Kateřina Siniaková | 15 | 1 |
| TPE | Chan Hao-Ching | TPE | Latisha Chan | 30 | 2 |
| CAN | Gabriela Dabrowski | USA | Bethanie Mattek-Sands | 32 | 3 |
| SLO | Andreja Klepač | BEL | Elise Mertens | 46 | 4 |
| AUS | Samantha Stosur | CHN | Zhang Shuai | 60 | 5 |
| USA | Hayley Carter | BRA | Luisa Stefani | 64 | 6 |
| GER | Laura Siegemund | RUS | Vera Zvonareva | 75 | 7 |
| RUS | Anna Blinkova | RUS | Veronika Kudermetova | 75 | 8 |
* Rankings are as of 25 January 2021

### Other entrants

The following pairs received a wildcard into the doubles main draw:
* Destanee Aiava / Astra Sharma
* Daria Gavrilova / Simona Halep
* Abbie Myers / Ivana Popovic
The following pair received entry using a protected ranking:
* Mona Barthel / Zhu Lin

### Withdrawals
#### During the tournament

* Daria Gavrilova / Simona Halep