Wynne gets wild card for Wismilak meet
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Contributor, Nusa Dua, Bali
Local tennis star Wynne Prakusya, ranked 165th in the world, will be in the main draw of the Wismilak International tennis tournament as one of the three wild card recipients, the organizers confirmed here on Friday.
The other two are Corina Morariu of the United States (ranked 400th) and Venezuelan's Maria Vento-Kabchi (ranked 86th). The main draw will consist of 32 players.
Wynne will be one of seven local players, including 2001 champion Angelique Widjaja, to take part in the US$225,000 tournament, which will run from Sept. 6 to 14 in Nusa Dua, Bali.
Angelique, whose US Open bid fell short in the opening round at the hands of Amelie Mauresmo of France, is currently ranked 73rd in the world.
The other five local competitors in the WTA event will be Liza Andriyani Diana Julianto, Maya Rosa, Aleta Sungkono and Ayu Fani Damayanti, all of whom will have to go through the qualifying stages.
The tier-three Wismilak International has seemingly not been affected by the Aug. 5 JW Marriott Hotel bombing, which took 12 lives, with scores of players from all over the world set to participate.
Some of the big names include Chanda Rubin of the United States and Conchita Martinez of Spain, who are ranked 9th and 12th respectively in the world.
Russian's Elena Dementieva (15), Yugoslavian's Jelena Dokic (17) and Thailand's top player Tamarine Tanasugarn (37) have also confirmed their participation at the 11-day event.
"The participation of these top players will surely make this year's event the best tournament in its 10-year history," tournament director Kevin Livesey said on Friday.
He attributed the tournament's success in bringing those top players to Bali to the public relations campaign to show that the island has a stable security situation.
The campaign has been particularly intensified after the JW Marriott incident.
"Usually it is very difficult to get players, who are ranked 1-10 in the world, to participate in a tournament like this," he said.
Separately, the Denpasar Police chief Senior Commissioner Komang Udayana said he would employ tight security measures, saying that at least 150 uniformed officers would be deployed to secure the tournament.
The security details would also include metal detectors, highly-trained police dogs and a bomb squad.
"We will do all the necessary things to ensure the safety of the players, the spectators and the tournament itself," he said.