After below-par performances at the Australian, Middle Eastern and U.S. hard courts, several top players – most notably Serbian player Jelena Jankovic – are looking forward to perform well in claycourt tournaments starting this week and rack up on those ranking points lost during the past few months.
Andalucia Tennis Experience (WTA)
After losing her opening matches at the Indian Wells and Key Biscayne, world number three Jelena Jankovic is certainly raring to win this inaugural tournament which takes place in Marbella, Spain. However, she’ll likely face world number one Serena Williams in the title match since the latter is the tournament top seed.
Here’s the list of seeded players in the tournament:
[1] Serena Williams
[2] Jelena Jankovic
[3] Kaia Kanepi
[4] Anabel Medina Garrigues
[5] Carla Suarez Navarro
[6] Sara Errani
[7] Sorana Cirstea
[8] Tsvetana Pironkova
The winner will receive $112,300 plus 280 ranking points while the runner-up will get $57,600 plus 200 rankings points.
Currently on its 30th year, the MPS Group Championship (formerly the Bausch & Lomb Championships) will have a new venue at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Being the third oldest WTA tennis event in the U.S., this tournament has recorded millions of viewers through the years – thanks to the presence of high caliber tennis players who have hoisted the championship trophy through the years. Former champions include Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini and Lindsay Davenport – all have claimed the title thrice.
Here’s the list of seeded players in this year’s tournament
[1] Nadia Petrova
[2] Caroline Wozniacki
[3] Dominika Cibulkova
[4] Patty Schnyder
[5] Aleksandra Wozniak
[6] Shuai Peng
[7] Alona Bondarenko
[8] Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Jelena Dokic, the surprise Australian Open quarterfinalist this year, pulled out of the $220,000 tournament a few hours earlier due to “sports fatigue syndrome.”
Image: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
