Zvonareva named top seed for Pattaya
Pattaya champions Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia are among the top four seeds for this year's US$220,000 PTT Pattaya Open, it was announced yesterday.
World No 8 Zvonareva, who won backtoback Pattaya Open titles in 2009 and 2010, is top seed in the tournament to be held at the Dusit Thani, Pattaya from February 512.
Seeded second is Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, ranked No 16 in the world, followed by defending champion world No 20 Hantuchova. Russian world No 26 Maria Kirilenko is fourth seed.
The top Asian player in the field, China’s Jie Zheng, is fifth seed having moved up to world No 35, while Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva seeded sixth and Romania’s Sorana Cirstea and Vania King of the USA completing the seeding.
Zvonareva and Kirilenko arrived in Pattaya on Saturday to prepare for the tournament, with other leading stars expected to arrive later due to Fed Cup commitments this week.
This year will see at least three Thai players compete in the singles tournament, with Tamarine Tanasugarn, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai in the main draw. Nudnida Luangnam, Varatchaya Wongteanchai, Tanaporn Thongsing and Nattawadee Kotcha will be aiming to join them as qualifiers.
The tournament starts on February 6 with play from 3pm daily. The semifinals on Saturday February 11 and the finals on Sunday begin at 4pm. Tickets at Bt300, Bt500, Bt800 and Bt1,200 are available at www.pentanglepromotions.com www.pentanglepromotions.com, (02) 311 3414/5 or www.thaiticketmajor.com www.thaiticketmajor.com, (02) 262 3456.
Elsewhere, in Burnie, Australia, Danai Udomchoke beat close friend Sebastian Rieschick of Germany 76 (86) 57 61 to reach the quarterfinals of the US$50,000 McDonald’s Burnie International yesterday.
“He’s my best friend and we didn’t want to play each other,” said Danai after his win. “But when we have to play, we have to do our best. He is a guy who hits the ball very hard and plays very aggressive. So I had to play good counterattack here and I did very well.” Danai next plays another close buddy in second seed and world No 65 Lu Yenshun.
