2011 Moorilla Hobart International highlights impressive field
All the tennis lovers in Tasmania will experience an impressive field of contenders when the Moorilla Hobart International begins in the Australian state's capital city on January 9th, the second week of the New Year.
A total of five former top ten contenders lead the way, including previous World No. 1, Dinara Safina of Russia. The professional tennis ace from Russia, who reached the pinnacle of the game back in 2009, should be a huge draw
in Hobart as the right-hander attempts to fight her way back to the top rankings on the tour. The 24-year old Dinara, who made her debut on the WTA tour, back in 2000, is currently ranked No.63 in the world.
The French star Marion Bartoli, will take the number one seeding. The 26-year old Marion has won a total of five single titles so far in her career. Currently ranked number sixteen in the South African Airways WTA list, the right
hander will be playing in Hobart on the very first occasion in her career. The 2007 grass court Grand Slam runner up was scheduled to take part in the competition back in 2004 however pulled out at the last moment as a result of an injury.
Anna Chakvetadze, Kimiko Date-Krumm and Patty Schnyder are the other three previous top ten contenders in the field. The 32-year old Patty picked up the crown back in 1997 and ten years later in 2007. Anna, on the other hand, emerged
victorious in her debut appearance at the competition. The Russian is currently ranked No.63 in the world. She lifted one singles crown and advanced into a total of two doubles title battles in 2010.
All the players will be facing a tough battle versus last year’s winner Alona Bondarenko, who is making a comeback to Tasmania with a hope to win her third career crown. The 26-year old Alona, who turned professional back in 1999
got the better of top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final four round, followed by another impressive victory over the second seed Shahar Peer to raise the tournament trophy last year. The Ukrainian is currently ranked No.36 in the world.
Michael Roberts, who is the director of the event, while commenting on the array of talented players, competing in the competition next year said, “This is an extremely strong field. Every year we try to assemble players that are
exciting and that have not necessarily been to Hobart before. It will be exciting to see first-time players to our event like Bartoli and Bethanie Mattek Sands.”
Local hopes will rest on Jarmila Groth, who is coming off her career best season on the tour in 2010 as she reached the fourth round in the French Open as well as Wimbledon. The Australian also achieved her career high rankings
of no.41 earlier in 2010 after picking up her first WTA crown at Guangzhou.
A couple of other players who will also prove a major threat to the number one seed Bartoli include Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who is the only teenager ranked inside the top twenty five on the tour. The nineteen year old had a successful
last year, capturing her first two WTA singles crowns and participating in the year ending Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.
Former winner Zheng Jie, 2009 Australian Open semifinalist and Tsvetana Pironkova, last year’s grass court Grand Slam semifinalist are also included.
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