2010 CBTC, List of Players

WTA has announced the players to participate at the 2010 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions to be held in Bali, 4-7 November 2010.

Despite their international tournament wins and high rankings, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, and Kaia Kanepi will not be playing in Bali due to unspecified reasons.

The Tournament announced Japanese veteran, Kimiko Date Krumm another Wild Card to replace Ana Ivanovic who qualified by default after her win at Linz. Date Krumm has not won any international tournament, but has shown good progress at the end of the season.


1 Li Na Rank: 11 | Won: Birmingham
2 Aravane Rezai Rank: 18 | Won: Bastad
3 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Rank: 20 | Won: Monterrey, Istanbul
4 Yanina Wickmayer Rank: 22 | Won: Auckland
5 Ana Ivanovic Rank: 24 | Won: Linz
6 Alisa Kleybanova Rank: 27 | Won: Kuala Lumpur

7 Daniela Hantuchova Rank: 27 - WILD CARD
8 Kimiko Date Krumm Rank: 53 - WILD CARD


This has let other higher ranked players who are qualified for the tournament in dismay. Alona Bondarenko (ranked 36, won Hobart), Agnes Szavay (37, Budapest & Prague), and Roberta Vinci (38, Luxembourg) are not on the list.


Compared to those three players, Hantuchova and Date Krumm have advantages as the Tournament found them having selling factors. Those who do not really follow WTA Tour updates (even the journalists) know Hantuchova better than the other three players. She is beautiful and attractive and has been playing in Bali several times.

Kimiko Date Krumm is the oldest player on tour and has been the most succesful Japanese tennis player in singles. The Tournament is targetting Japanese tourists to flood Bali International Convention Centre in Nusa Dua to cheer on their heroine. Tennis wise, she remains highly competitive. It is not a bad choice, but I myself have a pity on those higher ranked players.

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.

2010 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions

Twenty four players have won at least one international tournament, the first criterion to be able to participate in the year-end women's tennis tournament, the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. The tournament will be held in Bali for 4-7 November 2010 at the Bali International Convention Centre, in Nusa Dua area.

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/page/RoadToBali/0,,12781,00.html

Not all of the above players would be playing in Bali. Six of them would probably play at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha 25-27 October 2010 and will not be allowed to play in Bali, unless the player is only an alternate at the Sony Ericsson Championship. Some of them (USA and Italian players) would not be able to come to Bali as they will play Fed Cup final at the same time.

Take a look at the players who are qualified for Bali and Doha and the possible qualified players based on their current WTA ranking and the singles ranking at the Race to Sony Ericsson Championship.

Sony Ericsson Championships

The best eight women this year will compete at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Khalifa Tennis Complex, Doha, Qatar, from 27 October to 1 November 2009. They are divided into two groups of four players and will compete in round robin format.

White Group
1 Dinara Safina (RUS)
4 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
6 Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
8 Jelena Jankovic (SRB)

Maroon Group
2 Serena Williams (USA)
3 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
5 Elena Dementieva (RUS)
7 Venus Williams (USA)

The winner of the White Group will play the runner up of Maroon Group and the runner up of White Group will play the winner of Maroon Group in the semifinals.



Doubles

Along with the singles event, four doubles pairs are set to play in semifinals and final elimination matches. Only the best pairs of 2009 are qualified for the championship.

The Williamses, winner of most Grand Slam titles of 2009 (Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open), leads the contenders for the year-end tournament. They are followed by co-number one doubles players, Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA). Spanish pair of Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez join the elité eight for the first time. They have won six doubles titles throughout the year and will be a serious threat to the top doubles players. Australian duo of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs are in Doha not only to complete the list of players. They have won the championships twice together (Stubbs' won in 2001 with Lisa Raymond) and will try to get the third.


Dates of Play
Round Robin (Singles) 27 - 30 Oct 2009
Semi-Finals / Finals (Singles and Doubles) 31 Oct - 1 Nov 2009


Prize Money Breakdown

Singles
$1,550,000 Winner
$780,000 Finalist
RR (3 wins) $400,000
RR (2 wins) $300,000
RR (1 win) $200,000
RR (no wins) $100,000

Doubles
Winner $375,000
Finalist $187,500
Semifinalists $93,750

http://www.sonyericsson-championships.com/

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/