Davenport bound for Bali tourney after U.S. Open quarterfinal exit
Davenport bound for Bali tourney after U.S. Open quarterfinal exit
Agencies, Jakarta
World number one Lindsay Davenport and defending champion
Svetlana Kuznetsova will spearhead the competition at the
US$225,000 WTA Wismilak tennis tournament in Nusa Dua, Bali, next
week.
Organisers said Davenport, who was defeated by sixth-seeded
Russian Elena Dementieva in the U.S. Open on Wednesday, had
confirmed that she would take part in Southeast Asia's biggest
international women's tennis event on Sept. 11-Sept. 18.
Davenport will be joined by other stars, including Kuznetsova
of Russia, Switzerland's Patty Schnyder and one of the game's
rising stars, Serbian Jelena Jankovic.
"We are delighted that a player of Lindsay Davenports stature
wants to play in Bali," tournament director Kevin Livesey was
quoted as saying on the event's website by Agence France-Presse.
"We are also thrilled to welcome back many old friends such as
Svetlana Kuznetsova."
Kuznetsova won last year's Bali title, defeating unheralded
Marlene Weingartner of Germany 6-1, 6-4, but has had a difficult
2005 due to injury. S
Other players who have confirmed their participation include
10-time Grand Slams winner and Spanish veteran star Arantxa
Sanchez-Vicario, who will pair with Kuznetsova in the doubles
event, and India's rising star Sania Mirza.
Indonesian number one Angelique Widjaja, who is still
recovering from a nagging knee injury after surgery last
November, withdrew last month after being offered a wild card.
Mirza, 18, made history last week as the first Indian woman to
reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event, losing to Russia's
Maria Sharapova, and the first to break into the world top 50.
However, she came under fire on Friday in her native
Hyderabad.
A Muslim organization has issued an edict telling her to cover
up during matches, and said her short skirts and sleeveless
shirts were "un-Islamic," newspapers reported.
"The dress she wears on the tennis courts not only doesn't
cover large parts of her body but leaves nothing to the
imagination," newspaper quoted Haseeb-ul-hasan Siddiqui of the
Sunni Ulema Board as saying.
He said Islam did not permit women to wear skirts, shorts and
sleeveless tops in public and that she should cover up.
Siddiqui said he was worried Mirza was becoming a role model
for younger generations of Muslim girls.
"She will undoubtedly be a corrupting influence on these young
women, which we want to prevent," the Hindustan Times quoted him
as saying in Hyderabad.
Siddiqui said Mirza should follow the example of Iranian women
who wore long tunics and headscarves to play in the Asian
Badminton Championship in Hyderabad earlier this week.