Ivanovic, Hantuchova guaranteed Bali wildcard

Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 10/06/2010 10:49 AM | Sports
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Top Chinese tennis player Li Na, former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and 2007 Bali runner-up Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia are three of the world-class tennis players who have expressed their interest in playing at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali in November.

They do not have a long wait.

“Li will probably be our number one seed this year,” tournament director Kevin Livesey said at a press conference on Tuesday, a month ahead of the Nov. 4-7 event.

Li is eligible to attend the WTA event in Bali after winning a WTA international series tournament, the AEGON Classic in Birmingham last July.

“Li requested a wildcard guarantee to play in Bali earlier this year, but now she has qualified,” Livesey said.

The last time Li played in Bali was at the 2005 Wismilak International, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinal. Despite injury, the Chinese tennis icon made it to the semifinals at this year’s Australia Open and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, beating Serena Williams in both events. Hantuchova and former French Open champion Ivanovic were among the 10 players who requested wildcards for Bali.

“They are the two wildcard [holders] that we can guarantee,” said Livesey, adding that if Ivanovic and Hantuchova qualified in their own right in the last three international series, other players might be brought in as wildcard holders.

Ivanovic first played in Bali in 2006, while this year’s tourney will be Hantuchova’s fourth appearance.

The US$600,000 tournament at the Bali International Convention Center will feature a total of eight players, not 12 as in 2009.

The six players eligible to play in Bali are those with the best WTA ranking by Oct. 25, who have won at least one international series and not playing at the WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva have qualified for the Doha WTA Tour Championships and therefore will not play in Bali.

The fixed line-up of players will be announced by Oct. 25 as there are still three international series to go, including the Generali Ladies Linz in Austria and the HP Open in Osaka, both kicking off on Oct. 11, and the Luxembourg Open on Oct. 18.

Defending champion Aravane Rezai of France also qualified for Bali after winning a tourney in Bastad.

Despite the absence of Indonesian players at the event, former tennis star Angelique Widjaja expressed hope that the tournament would motivate national players to achieve more. “They should see this tournament as their personal target. I hope that our players are challenged to play in this tournament, not as wildcards but as qualifiers,” said Angie.