The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Mega tennis event set to unfold on Monday

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Saturday, Mar 01, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Mega tennis event set to unfold on Monday

Kalyan Ashok

BANGALORE: The city’s biggest tennis extravaganza is set to unfold at the KSLTA Stadium here on Monday when the Bangalore Open Championship, one of the highest rated women’s tennis tour event with a $600,000 stake, kicks off with main draw matches.

The weeklong event is all the more significant as it features three of the top 10 players, including World No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and the charismatic Williams sisters Venus ( ranked No. 6) and Serena ( No. 7) in the fray. It is a rare occasion as the Williams sisters seldom make an appearance together in the same event other than the Grand Slam championships. Both have expressed their delight to play in Bangalore.

“We have heard so much about the city, the Indian crowd and Indian culture and we would love to soak up for a while during our stay here,” said Venus and Serena, who are expected to be in town by Saturday night.

Meanwhile, work is going at a feverish pace at the stadium to give finishing touches to the complex, and all the three main courts have been redone and KSLTA also made available to the players the practice courts at the nearby KSCA Stadium.

Ticket sales have already begun and are expected to pick up momentum as the D-Day nears.

Meanwhile, the qualifying rounds are slated to start on Saturday and the Indian interest in these rounds will centre on players like Sanaa Bhambri, Ankita Bhambri, Rushmi Chakravarthi and the U.S.-based Sunitha Rao.

Sunitha Rao had a solid two-hour workout at the stadium and expressed the hope that she would make the main draw. There are two Indian girls already in the main draw, as Shikha Ubeoi and Isha Lakhani have been given the wild cards.

Sure, the magical presence of Sania Mirza will be sorely missed by the Bangalore crowd, which gave such an affectionate reception last year to the Indian ace. She has famously opted out of the event for debatable reasons.

But then as C.S. Sunder Raju, KSLTA Secretary and Tournament Director, observed: “It is the event that finally counts and Bangalore Open is the biggest thing happening. It will showcase the city as a world class destination for tennis.”

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