Wismilak tennis organizers up security alert

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post/Denpasar, Bali

The organizers of Bali's top WTA Wismilak Interntional women's tennis tournament are tightening security in the wake of the bomb attack outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday, tournament director Kevin Livesey says.

The tournament features stars like World No. 3 Anastasia Myskina of Russia, who won the French Open and finished in fourth at the Athens Olympics.

However, a big loss to the tournament will be defending champion World No. 6 Elena Dementieva of Russia who would be a no-show, Livesey said.

Speaking at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Nusa Dua on Saturday, Livesey said her absence was not due to terror fears but because the Bali tournament's date was too close to the U.S. Open and the China Open, which starts on Sept. 20.

Dementieva advanced to the U.S. Open final on Friday and she is to meet Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday (Sunday Jakarta time).

Livesy said organizers would bring in "special security officers" to guard the tournament, which will run from Sept. 13 to 19.

Livesey refused to elaborate on the security plans.

"I'm sorry, we can't give the details as to who (these guards) are, where they are from and what security systems they will use. They will take charge of the area for a week to secure the Wismilak tournament," he said.

Tournament organizers had decided to take such security measures given the list of top WTA ranked-players including Chanda Rubin of the United States.

Rubin, who is currently ranked 22nd in the world, lost to Dementieva in 2003.

"She told me she is well aware of the conditions in Indonesia, but she is not too bothered. She knows Bali is two hours away (by plane) from Jakarta," Livesey said.

World No. 51 Nicole Pratt of Australia is also confirmed to take part in the three-tier tournament, which offers a total of US$ 225,000 in cash prizes.

Other top-ranked Russian players scheduled to show up include World No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova and World No. 14 Nadia Petrova.

Asian tennis will be represented by World No. 52 Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, the Japanese trio of World No. 13 Ai Sugiyama, World No. 56 Saori Obata, No. 61 Akiko Morigami and 2001 Wismilak winner, Angelique "Angie" Widjaja of Indonesia who this time enters the tournament on a wildcard.