Ana Ivanovic to play in Bali Tournament of Champions
The field for Bali’s Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions has been confirmed, with former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic among the eight player draw.
The tournament provides a stage for the six highest ranked players who have won one of 32 specified International tournament titles but not qualified for the WTA Tour Championships in Doha to compete, along with two wildcard entries.
Ivanovic, who until the Generali Ladies Linz this month had not won a tournament in two years, left her run to Bali late, but her recent resurgence after a prolonged form slump must leave the Serb as one of the leading contenders to take the last title on offer for 2010.
She will, however, be competing with the likes of Li Na, winner of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham during June and the current world No. 11 and defending champion Aravane Rezai, the Frenchwoman who brought her best tennis of the year with her to the clay courts of Madrid where she overpowered three former world No. 1’s in Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams on her way to her first title of 2010 but qualified by adding a second title on dirt in a weaker field in Bastad during July.
The other three players to qualify for Bali are world No. 22 Yanina Wickmayer, who made a strong start to the season by claiming the Auckland title in January; top-ranked teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who won her maiden WTA title at the Monterrey Open this year and her second in Istanbul during the summer; and winner of the Malaysia Open and Korea Open Alisa Kleybanova.
Joining them as wildcards in the Tournament of Champions are world No. 31 Daniela Hantuchova, who hasn’t won a WTA title since 2007, and 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, who narrowly missed out on becoming the oldest woman to win a WTA title after losing to another veteran (though a mere 33-year-old one) Tamarine Tanasugarn in the final of the HP Open in Osaka during October.
The Tournament of Champions gets underway on November 4th and concludes on November 7th.
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