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Thursday, 27 October 2005 |
Top tennis name to be revealed for women's Classic
The first big name for January's
international women's tennis tournament in Auckland will be announced
today. ASB Classic organisers are expected to reveal the name of a
top-10 player for the January 2-7 event.
They have already secured defending champion and world No 31 Katarina
Srebotnik from Slovenia and are now confident two of this year's other
three semifinalists - No 36 Japan's Shinobu Asagoe and No 43 Marion
Bartoli of France - will return.
No one will say who the top-10 player is but count out world No 1
Lindsay Davenport and her fellow American Venus Williams, No 2 Maria
Sharapova of Russia, Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters
and French player Amelie Mauresmo, who al have commitments elsewhere.
The Classic, a tier-four event with a purse of US$140,000 ($199,439),
clashes with an exhibition event in Hong Kong, the Hopman Cup in Perth
and the tier-three Uncle Toby tournament on the Gold Coast.
The most likely candidates are Russians Elena Dementieva - beaten
finalist at the French and US Opens last year and a former world No 4 -
or Nadia Petrova, who are ranked 8th and 10th respectively, or Swiss
Patty Schnyder, the world No 9. The other possibility is No 5-ranked
Frenchwoman Mary Pierce, a past visitor to Auckland whose career has
taken a rapid turn for the better this year, highlighted by making the
French and US Open finals.
Whoever is chosen, it will be a big boost for a tournament, which this
year failed to attract a player inside the top 25. The full draw will
be released late next month.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 October 2005 )
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