By IANS
Kolkata : The third edition of Sunfeast Open is all set to be the biggest WTA event in South Asia with four of the world’s leading women tennis players – Daniela Hantuchova, Marion Bartoli, Maria Krilenko and Sania Mirza – ready to set the courts on fire next month.
The Tier III WTA Tour event with prize money of $175,000 will be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium Sep 17-23.
If the tournament has attracted the likes of Martina Hingis and Anastasia Myskina in the past, then it’s a roll call of stars this time round.
“We have set a very high entry level for this year’s championship and the competition is surely going to be much tougher than the previous two years,” tournament director Jaideep Mukherjea told reporters while announcing the marquee list of players.
Mahesh Bhupathi, whose Globosports promotes the tournament, said from Canada, where he is playing in a tournament: “This is the biggest Sunfeast Open with a mixture of glamour and talent.
“We have tried to put together some of the finest names in tennis. Danilela Hantuchova, Maria Krilenko and Marion Bartolli are some of the biggest names, along with Sania Mirza.”
According to Mukherjea, the cut-off point this year was 105 in the WTA rankings.
“The competition is definitely going to be very tough this year. All of the players are at the top of their game and are also future stars. So you can expect them to put their best foot forward,” he added.
The foreign participation notwithstanding, all eyes will be definitely on Sania, who has had an excellent season so far since coming back from a career-threatening knee injury three months back.
Sania reached the final of the recently concluded Stanford Classic before going down to top seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 6-2. She also won the doubles title partnering Shahar Peer of Israel.
The Hyderabad hurricane has now beaten World number 12 Martina Hingis in the second round of the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Mirza has now played Hingis four times and beaten her twice.
The other prominent players Sania has beaten over the last few weeks are Tatiana Golovin, Patty Schnyder and Dinara Safina.
Bartoli was a revelation this Wimbeldon. Coming into the tournament as the 18th seed, the Frenchwoman defeated a few of the top seeds like Jelena Jankovic and Justin Henin before eventually losing to American ace Venus Williams in the final.
She has enjoyed a great 2007 season and is one of the top contenders for the Sunfeast title this year.
The other top draws are last year’s Bangalore Open winner Yaraslova Shvedova and Russian teenager Alla Kudryavtseva, who gave eventual champion Venus a scare in the first round of Wimbeldon before going down 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Sunfeast top seed Hantuchova has also been in sublime form this season, winning her second WTA Tour title at Indian Wells in March this year. Hantuchova is also an accomplished doubles player and has partnered tennis legend Martina Narvatilova for the 2005 season.
A few other players like Sunita Rao and the Uberoi sisters Neha and Sheikha are expected to earn wild-card entries for the main draw.
The tournament organisers have roped in Ten Sports as their broadcast partner for the third year running.