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Strong Player Field For 2010 ASB Classic

There's a strong list of players for the 2010 ASB Classic

The 2010 ASB Classic featuring the Kia Motors singles and doubles is set to have arguably the strongest lineup ever.

Main highlights of the full player list include the eight seeds being ranked inside the top 30 for the first time.  Four players with rankings inside the top 20 and 14 of the 24 direct entrants having singles titles to their credit.

Italian, Flavia Pennetta ranked at No12 will head the field in her first time in the main draw at the ASB Classic followed by newcomer, Li Na from China at No15.

Both players had a successful year reaching career high rankings – 10 for Pennetta and 15 for Li Na.

Pennetta gained her seventh and eighth career titles at Palermo and Los Angeles as well as featuring in the US Open quarterfinals.  Li Na was a finalist at Monterrey and Birmingham and also made the quarters at the US Open.

Two more top 20 players are also confirmed entrants – Francesca Schiavone (Italy) who is at 17 and France’s Virginie Razzano at 19.

Four players entered in the top 20 has only been achieved on two previous occasions at the ASB Classic.

The remaining seeds include 2009 finalist Elena Vesnina of Russia who sits just outside the top 20 at 24 followed by 2008 finalist Aravane Rezai (France) who improved her ranking dramatically from outside the top 40 to 26 after winning the International Series year-end championships in Bali recently.

Regular visitor Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, who won her ninth career title this year, will be the seventh seed with a ranking of 28.  Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, the 2009 Roland Garros semifinalist is the eighth seed at 29 in the world.

Schiavone has two career singles titles to her credit winning her first in 2007 at Bad Gastein and her second earlier this month at Moscow.

She was also a finalist at Prague and Osaka in 2009 as well as putting in her best performance on grass to make the quarters at Wimbledon. Previously she had made the quarters at Roland Garros (2001) and the US Open (2003).

Schiavone has played at the ASB Classic once before, when she made the semifinals of the 2000 tournament.

Razzano is a two-time winner on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour taking titles in 2007 Guangzhou and the Japan Open in Tokyo. In 2009 her best result was reaching the final at Dubai where she defeated Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva on route to the final before falling to Venus Williams.

There was also a finals appearance at Eastbourne and fourth round finishes at Roland Garros and Wimbledon which led to her reaching a career high during the year of 16 in September and a first year-end top 20 finish.

Other players who are unseeded but are notable names include Frenchwoman, Alize Cornet who has a ranking of 50, but has been as high as 11 as recently as February this year.

Cornet is still only 19 and has wowed the crowds with her particular style of play around the world. She owns a title at Budapest in 2008 and has been a career finalist twice. Her best results in 2009 include the semifinals at Bad Gastein as well as the quarters at both Sydney and Paris and the fourth round at the Australian Open.

A player who has never set foot at the ASB Tennis Centre, but is sure to be popular is Indian, Sania Mirza. She is a huge star in her nation and is on her way back up the rankings after several niggling injuries.

She won the Hyderabad title in 2005 which placed her as the most popular female sports star in India. Her big results in 2009 featured a finals appearance at Pattaya as well as semifinals at Birmingham and Osaka.

Also confirmed is former top five ranked player Anna Chakvetadze who has a staggering seven singles titles to her credit. She was ranked as high as No5 in September 2007 and made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Rolland Garros as well as the semis at the US Open all in 2007.  

“Having the seeded players all within the top 30 rankings is a first for the ASB Classic with only one other of the 30 International Series events on the WTA Tour having achieved this,” says ASB Classic Tournament Director, Brenda Perry.

“This is an incredibly strong field with a number of rising stars, current and former top 20 players along with a good mix of new and familiar faces.”

The ASB Classic will once again include video podcasting as well as live scoring and a number of other new features.

The ASB Classic featuring the Kia Motors Singles and Doubles will be played at the ASB Tennis Centre, January 4-9, with qualifying January 2-3.

The ASB Classic is a US$220,000 International Series event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.