Ivanovic and Hantuchova

Even though the Tournament has named Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova wild cards for the 2010 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, both players are still trying to qualify for the tournament by winning at least one international event.



Ivanovic and Hantuchova are now playing in Linz and have also book their places at Luxembourg next week. The last two international tournaments on WTA calendar, therefore the last chances to win a ticket for Bali.



As Flavia Pennetta will not be playing in Bali, the chance of Kaia Kanepi and Alysa Kleybanova are still open.

CBTC Draw

The draw for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions has been made. Twelve players are split into four groups of three, with one each of the top four seeds placed into Group A, B, C and D in order of ranking. The next four players based on ranking were then drawn and placed in each group, followed by the final four.

The highest ranked winner of any of the Groups will be placed at the top of the semi-final draw, with the second highest ranked placed at the bottom. The remaining two semi-finalists will be drawn to play in the top or bottom half.


Group A:
Marion Bartoli
Shahar Peer
Magdalena Rybarikova

Bartoli have lost to Peer six times in seven encounters. The only win came in Wimbledon this year. While against Rybarikova, Bartoli leads 2-1. The only lost was in New Heaven when Bartoli was forced to retire due to injury. Peer and Rybarikova have never played each other in WTA Tour.


Group B:
Samantha Stosur
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
Agnes Szavay

Szavay defeated Stosur in two sets at R32 of 2007 New Heaven.
Either Szavay or Stosur has never played Martinez-Sanchez before.


Group C:
Yanina Wickmayer
Anabel Medina Garrigues
Kimiko Date Krumm

Anabel defeated Yanina 1-6 6-3 6-3 in R32 of 2009 Strasbourg, but it was in red clay.
Anabel defeated Kimiko in Guangzhou, but lost to her in Seoul final this year.
Kimiko has never played Yanina.


Group D:
Sabine Lisicki
Melinda Czink
Aravane Rezai

Lisicki and Czink have met twice in 2008. Lisicki won in the 2nd round of Australian Open, but lost in Quebec City (carpet). Both matches went to three sets.
Czink and Rezai played each other twice last year. Rezai won 6-4 6-2 in Tokyo, but had to retire in Beijing while trailed 2-6 0-1.
The only encounter between Lisicki and Rezai was in the opening round of 2009 US Open when Lisicki prevails after a hard fought three setter 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 6-1.


Vera Dushevina, the alternate, will replace any injured or ill player.

Ten Players are Qualified for CBTC

As Sabine Lisicki lost to Timea Bacsinszky at the Luxembourg final , none of them acquired direct acceptance to Tournament of Champion in Bali. Bacsinszky only managed to reach 55 at the WTA ranking this week.

1. Vera Zvonareva (9, RUS)
2. Marion Bartoli (12, FRA)
3. Samantha Stosur (13, AUS)
4. Yanina Wickmayer (19, BEL)
5. Anabel Medina Garrigues (27, ESP)
6. María José Martínez Sánchez (31, ESP)
7. Shahar Peer (32, ISR),
8. Melinda Czink (39, HUN)
9. Agnes szavay (42, HUN)
10. Aravane Rezai (44, FRA)
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11. Magdalena Rybarikova (46, SVK)
12. Vera Dushevina (49, RUS)

Two players who have won at least one international tournament and ranked immediately below Rezai will be the alternates in CBTC and will automatically replace any of the above ten if the player is injured or ill. Let's see who will be nominated for wild cards at this event. I am hoping that Sabine Lisicki will be given one.

Should the tournament or WTA does not nominate any wild card players, Rybarikova and Dushevina will fill in the last two places and the players below them, Andrea Petkovic (54, GER) and Timea Bacsinszky (55, SUI) will be the alternates.

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The Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions (“CBTC”) will be held in Nusa Dua, Bali, from November 4 to 8, 2009 at the Bali International Convention Centre adjacent to The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali. CBTC will present 10 top tennis players who have won at least one International Tournament of Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 2009 and 2 wild cards. The winner of this event will receive USD 600.000 prize money.

Among the winners of 2009 International Tournaments, 10 highest ranked players who are not participating in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha this week are qualified for CBTC. They will be joined by 2 wild cards to be nominated by the tournament owner or WTA. The 12 participants will be divided into four groups of three players to compete in round-robin singles format. The winners of the groups will play in single elimination semifinals for the places in the final.

Official Website of the tournament: http://www.commbanktennis.com/

The Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions

The biggest bonus in the history of any sports in Indonesia will be provided at the 2009 season-end tournament, The Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions (“CBTC”) to be held in Nusa Dua, Bali, from November 4 to 8, 2009 at the Bali International Convention Centre adjacent to The Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali. CBTC will present 10 top tennis players who have won at least one International Tournament of Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 2009 and 2 wild cards. The winner of this event will receive USD 600.000 prize money. A bonus of USD 1 million will be added if the winner has won three of the total 30 International Tournaments in 2009.

Among the winners of 2009 International Tournaments, 10 highest ranked players who are not participating in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha are qualified for CBTC. They will be joined by 2 wild cards to be nominated by the tournament owner or WTA.
The 12 participants will be divided into four groups of three players to compete in round-robin singles format. The winners of the groups will play in single elimination semifinals for the places in the final.


Qualified Players

The following players are likely to be the participants of CBTC.
Jelena Jankovic (9, SRB) or Vera Zvonareva (7, RUS)
Marion Bartoli (11, FRA)
Samantha Stosur (13, AUS)
Yanina Wickmayer (20, BEL)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (26, ESP)
María José Martínez Sánchez (34, ESP)
Shahar Peer (38, ISR),
Melinda Czink (40, HUN)
Aravane Rezai (43, FRA)
Magdalena Rybarikova (45, SVK)
Agnes szavay (46, HUN).

Actually five of the Top 10 women players are qualified to play in Bali, but they are scheduled to play in Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, next week. Dinara Safina (2, RUS), Venus Williams (4, USA), Elena Dementieva (5, RUS), Caroline Wozniacki (6, DEN), and Victoria Azarenka (8, BLR) have won at least one International Tournament this year, but they are likely to play in Doha for a bigger prize money and an unofficial best of the bests title.

Officially WTA have announced Wickmayer and Medina Garrigues for the tickets to Bali. The upset of Bartoli in Osaka and Stosur win in Linz last week have given them two tickets to Bali as they are ranked above Wickmayer and Medina Garrigues. It means that there are six tickets available for the other winners of 2009 International Series tournaments.

Flavia Pennetta (12, ITA), who have won the Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo would not be playing in Bali as Italy will play USA in Fed Cup final in Italy. Any of Jankovic and Zvonareva who are now competing for the last ticket to Doha would not be in Bali.


Last Chance for Other Players

There are five women who have not won an International Tournament that have the last chance to join ‘The 10 Champions’ in Bali. They are Kim Clijsters (18, BEL), Daniela Hantuchova (23, SVK), Sabine Lisicki (28, GER), Alona Bondarenko (29, UKR), Carla Suarez Navarro (32, ESP), and Patty Schnyder (47, SUI) who are now competing at the BGL Luxembourg Open. Clijsters, the winner of 2009 US Open and former world number one player, has a big chance to win in Luxembourg and grab the last ticket to Bali.


Bonus

There are four winners who have won two International Tournaments this year, namely Victoria Azarenka, Yanina Wickmayer, María José Martínez Sánchez, and Shahar Peer. Two of them, Wickmayer and Peer, keep their chances for taking home one million dollar bonus by cruising through the BGL Luxembourg Open. They need to win in Luxembourg and Bali. Not an easy task though.