Rezai Set to Defend Bali Title

Sandy Pramuji | October 25, 2010
Daniela Hantuchova received a wild-card entry into the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali on Nov. 4-7. Eight of the top women’s players will see action in the WTA’s season-ending event.  (AP Photo) Daniela Hantuchova received a wild-card entry into the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali on Nov. 4-7. Eight of the top women’s players will see action in the WTA’s season-ending event.  (AP Photo)


Be the first to write your opinion!

Jakarta. Aravane Rezai will return to Bali to defend her title at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, organizers confirmed on Monday.

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Japan’s Kimiko Date- Krumm were given the two wild cards in the event to be played at the Bali International Convention Center, Nusa Dua, on Nov. 4-7.

The tournament features the top women’s players who won at least one title on the WTA tour this year, and are not competing in the WTA Championships in Doha this week.

Li Na of China, the world No. 11, is the Bali tournament’s top seed. She earned a berth after winning the Aegon Classic in England in July.

The other players scheduled to appear at the $600,000 event are former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, and Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Alisa Kleybanova.

Rezai won the inaugural tournament last year after her opponent, Marion Bartoli, withdrew with a thigh injury in the final. The French-born player booked a ticket to Bali after winning the Swedish Open in Bastad in July.

Wickmayer qualified for the Tournament of Champions after clinching the ASB Classic title in Auckland in January.

The Belgian hopes to make up for a controversial appearance last year when she withdrew from the competition following a dispute back home over anti-doping procedures.

But the biggest draw in Bali will be Ivanovic, who earned a spot in the tournament after winning the Generali Ladies title in Linz, Austria, last week. The Serb defeated Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-2 for her first WTA title in two years and ninth overall.

Prior to her victory, the 22-year-old Serbian’s last title was at the same event in Austria in 2008. That same year she won the French Open and was the top-ranked player in the world for 12 weeks.

Ivanovic has played once before in Bali, at the Wismilak Tournament in 2006.

Forty-year-old Date-Krumm has had a recent impressive run of form.

She nearly became the oldest singles champion in WTA history when she reached the final of the Japan Open in Osaka last week.

She eventually lost in three tough sets to Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.

Hantuchova will compete in Indonesia for the first time since 2008.

She also took part in the Generali Ladies but lost to Schnyder in an earlier round.

Maria Sharapova had been invited to Bali, but the Russian informed organizers that she was pulling out of the tournament to take a break from the court.

Sharapova, one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, had qualified for the Bali event by winning the Cellular South Cup in Memphis in February.

“Maria said she has had a difficult year coming back from injury and has decided to rest and try to recover with a view of being ready for the 2011 season,” Kevin Livesey, the director of the Bali Tournament of Champions, said in a statement.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/sports/rezai-set-to-defend-bali-title/403236