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saniapower · Oct 9th, 2008, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by microgoogle

Stars line up for Hong Kong event

9 hours ago

World number one Jelena Jankovic, Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova and India's Sania Mirza will headline January's revamped JB Group Classic exhibition tournament in Hong Kong.

The annual exhibition tournament will see teams from Europe, Russia, the Americas and Asia-Pacific competing in singles and doubles matches at Hong Kong's Victoria Park to fall in line with events such as the Hopman Cup and the ATP World Team Cup.

Sharapova will make her regular visit to Hong Kong ahead of her Australia Open defence and will spearhead the Russian challenge, with Williams leading the Americas team on her sixth visit to Hong Kong.

Last year Sharapova again used the Hong Kong event as her only warm-up before heading to Melbourne to win a third grand slam by beating three of the top four rank players from the quarter-finals stage.

Current world number one Jankovic will headline Europe's bid, while Mirza will take her place in the Asia-Pacific team.

"We are delighted to be inviting tennis stars who represent every corner of the World and are thrilled that world number one Jelena Jankovic is spearheading Team Europe," said the president of the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association, Ian Wade.

"Jelena is one of the most popular and talented players on tour and a fierce competitor. She currently leads the WTA Tour Race and has won more matches than any other female player this year."

The remaining field for the event, which will be held from January 7-10, will be announced later in the year.

What an excellent decision

Money Many Money

microgoogle · Oct 9th, 2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mightymirza

hows HK gonna help her? I would rather if she played some real tournament

HK tourney is just for 4 days (7-10 Jan) and AO starts from 19 next year...so she still has one week bfor AO...also at a time when she wud be struggling to enter main draws of wta events, she wud get to face top players in HK (add to that the money offered considering theres not much competition in Asia-Pacific team and organizers dont have an alternative to her)...also no miracle's gonna happen even if she plays one of the real tourney...she will be out in the first or second round anyways playing after so long...no rocket science here i guess...

rocksania · Oct 9th, 2008, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhatTheDeuce

Haha missed you guys too

I've barely followed tennis recently and Sania's absence hasn't helped

and thanks rocksania

(sid?

)

wlcum dude..

Mightymirza · Oct 9th, 2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by microgoogle

HK tourney is just for 4 days (7-10 Jan) and AO starts from 19 next year...so she still has one week bfor AO...also at a time when she wud be struggling to enter main draws of wta events, she wud get to face top players in HK (add to that the money offered considering theres not much competition in Asia-Pacific team and organizers dont have an alternative to her)...also no miracle's gonna happen even if she plays one of the real tourney...she will be out in the first or second round anyways playing after so long...no rocket science here i guess...

but most warmup tournies are tier 4 right? She should get into one of those

microgoogle · Oct 9th, 2008, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mightymirza

but most warmup tournies are tier 4 right? She should get into one of those

yeah...but as i said, one tournament is not gonna do any wonders to her ranking and get her seeding at AO...so HK is always a better choice as she wud get the match practice anyways(and against better players than wat she wud have encountered in any tier 4 event). In addition to that some more money...and c'mon, lets not get hypocritical about money as long as u are not compromising on the real thing...and i dont see her doing that in this case...its almost like doing the same job at 2 places and getting paid more at one...wat wud u choose?...

Mightymirza · Oct 9th, 2008, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by microgoogle

yeah...but as i said, one tournament is not gonna do any wonders to her ranking and get her seeding at AO...so HK is always a better choice as she wud get the match practice anyways(and against better players than wat she wud have encountered in any tier 4 event). In addition to that some more money...and c'mon, lets not get hypocritical about money as long as u are not compromising on the real thing...and i dont see her doing that in this case...its almost like doing the same job at 2 places and getting paid more at one...wat wud u choose?...

IMO she has enough money! Plus HK surface, conditions are completely different than AO! She has plenty to defend early on in the year..She has to choose where to play wisely for sure..Its just my personal opinion that she shuda played some real tournie than HK!

microgoogle · Oct 9th, 2008, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mightymirza

IMO she has enough money! Plus HK surface, conditions are completely different than AO! She has plenty to defend early on in the year..She has to choose where to play wisely for sure..Its just my personal opinion that she shuda played some real tournie than HK!

ya...lets leave it to that...IMO its not that controversial\debatable issue\decision...unless we decide to make it one...

Mightymirza · Oct 9th, 2008, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by microgoogle

ya...lets leave it to that...IMO its not that controversial\debatable issue\decision...unless we decide to make it one...

lol of course not controversial

And not worth debating also

its not like shes famous for perfect scheduling anyways :Lol:

microgoogle · Oct 9th, 2008, 06:37 PM

btw i had something to ask from saniapower...it seems like he is following sania from longer than anyone here...just in case u have any pics of sania in early/junior days or even bfor that please post them...

microgoogle · Oct 9th, 2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mightymirza

lol of course not controversial

And not worth debating also

its not like shes famous for perfect scheduling anyways :Lol:

as far as scheduling is concerned, if u goto any players forum, u will find fans criticizing their scheduling or questioning the decision to play a particular tournament...so there's no such thing as perfect scheduling i guess...its just that when u do not get results everything seems wrong...

ASP0315 · Oct 9th, 2008, 09:58 PM

i agree mighty
I don't see how HK will help her expect for the part she gets good amount of appearence money and probably some TV coverage. It is better for her to play real WTA events(i.e some Tier III, IV events) before these exibition crap. Well if she wan't to play exhibition why don't she play some exhibitions in india and see if she can beat players like sunitha rao or shikha oberoi or tara iyer etc.

playing against top players weather or not she beats them isn't good enough for her preparation.

Well whats up with her coaching.? Is she still coachless player or is she still trying to go for "temporary" coaches.? I know she hired a new physio but i'm eager to what she does next.
I'll be optimistic next season. i think she can be top 20 next season but if and only if she gets a new coaching/ management and hopefully a permanent one
otherwise it will be probably her last season for her career and might think of going into diferent field like bollywood tollywood.

Mightymirza · Oct 9th, 2008, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by microgoogle

as far as scheduling is concerned, if u goto any players forum, u will find fans criticizing their scheduling or questioning the decision to play a particular tournament...so there's no such thing as perfect scheduling i guess...its just that when u do not get results everything seems wrong...

Now thats just not true..You really dont need an expert to know how much messed up sanias schedule is do you? Even when she was doing well it was a ridiculous schedule!

Apoorv · Oct 10th, 2008, 04:44 AM

Welcome back Dave!!!

OK, so from HK, Sania will go directly to Melborne and prepare for AO Qualifying matches?

Apoorv · Oct 10th, 2008, 04:45 AM

World no. 100 does not qualify directly for grandslams, right?

rocksania · Oct 10th, 2008, 08:24 AM

The best thing abt sania is tat evn though she has loadz of money,she still feels having a permanent coach and fitness trainer is utter waste

or may be noone wanna becum her coach bcz her family generally puts forward lots of terms n conditions wich forced Heath (sania's former trainer) to vacate his job.