Bali tournament gets upgrade for 2009
Bali has been chosen to host a US$600,000 international year-end singles tennis championships in 2009, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced Monday.
The Commonwealth Bank International Classic is part of the Roadmap 2010, designed to streamline the packed calender year and ensure that players remain healthy and fulfill their commitments through a longer off-season, Tour CEO Larry Scott said in Bali at a signing ceremony for the event.
It will replace the Tier 3 championships held since 2001, first as the Wismilak International and this year as the US$225,000 Commonwealth Bank International Classic. American Lindsay Davenport won the title Sunday.
The new championships will be the last event of the season and held on Nov. 2, a week after the Sony Ericsson Championships in Qatar, Scott said.
While qualification for Qatar will be based on ranking points, entry to the 8-player, round-robin Bali tournament will be determined by “performance and support of the Tour”, Scott said.
Players from Qatar would not be eligible for Bali, although one special wild card will be granted.
The championships, Scott said, “promises to showcase the Tour’s most exciting future stars and best performers in international level Tour events”.
The winner will receive $200,000.
The Bali tournament has become known as one of the Tour’s most popular events among players. It also has a reputation for supporting Indonesian tennis through the provision of wild cards into qualifying rounds and the main draw. Several players, including Indonesia’s Angelique Widjaja, the 2001 champion at the age of 16, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who won the title at 17 in 2002, and last year’s finalist Marion Bartoli, have achieved breakthroughs at the event.
“This is great for tennis and for the spectators who want to see top players, but please don’t forget Asian tennis,” National Tennis Association chairwoman Martina Wijaya said.
Scott said the new event and the opening of a WTA Tour office in Beijing next year showed its commitment to the Asian region and its development.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com
Add comment September 19th, 2007