Lindsay Davenport to defend title in Bali
Tennis player Lindsay Davenport will defend her title at he Wismilak tennis tournament in September. The American player won last year and was featured in local newspapers and magazines. The October bombing followed shortly after, and Lindsay said she was shocked, as she stayed at the Four Seasons and ran past Menega Cafe every morning.
This years field should be great and the Jakarta Post has the details.
Davenport to defend Wismilak crown
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Former world number one and defending champion Lindsay Davenport of the U.S. is scheduled to defend her title at the Wismilak International women’s tennis tournament in Nusa Dua, Bali, in September.
Eight other top 20 players are scheduled to take part in the Sept. 10-17 event at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
“We feel honored and delighted to have at least nine world-class players having confirmed their participation in the upcoming event,” tournament director Kevin Livesey said Tuesday.
“And it’s not yet finished. We’re still expecting more top players to take part in the tourney,” he said.
Apart from Davenport, the other eight other top 20 players are last year’s runner-up Francesca Schiavone of Italy, Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro, Ana Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Russians Vera Zvonareva, Elena Likhovtseva and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Last year only five top 20 players took part in the event. According to Livesey, the tournament could still attract more of the world’s best players because registration would remain open until six weeks before play begins.
Former top national player Angelique “Angie” Widjaja, who has just returned from a year layoff due to injury, has also confirmed her participation in the tournament.
“The tournament will be held at much-improved facilities, including the venue, on which 90 percent of renovation work is near completion,” said Regina Viviene, an executive with the tournament’s main sponsor Wismilak.
She hoped the tournament would help revive the tourist industry on the resort island after last October’s suicide bombings in Jimbaran and Kuta, which killed 23 people, including the three bombers.