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<font color=sapphire><font size=5>2001 Generali Ladies Linz Open<font=size><font=color><font color=black><font=color><font size=2><font=size>
<br /></center><br />The ETA Tour makes its last Tier II stop in the beautiful city of Linz, Austria. The $565,000 event marks the last tournament for players to accumulate points for the season ending Sanex Championships in Munich, Germany. Defending champion, Lindsay Davenport is noticeably absent from the draw, but defending finalist Venus Williams is in the draw and looks to be one of the prime contenders for the indoor title. Venus will look to capture the event that snapped her amazing 35 match win streak.<br /><center><br />
<br /></center><br />There are no Austrians in the singles or doubles draw with the changing of nationality of Barbara Schett. It remains in question how the crowd will react to the former No. 1 Austrian. Schett though has experienced a revival in just a few short weeks, reaching back to back quarterfinals but lost in the first round of last week's event.<br /><center><br />
<br /></center><br />The four wildcards were awarded to Pam Shriver, Meilen Tu, Su-Wei Hsieh, and Nadia Petrova. The first three wildcards have all reached at least the semifinals or better in their respective tournaments last week. In fact all three made their first ETA semifinals last week. Hsieh and Tu have proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Both players made their debuts last week and are both on track to become the second and third players to win their debut event. Another new face on the tour is Croatia's Iva Majoli who received a wildcard into qualifications.<br /><center><br />
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[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: Tennisace ]</p>

<font color=sapphire><font size=5>2001 Generali Ladies Linz Open<font=size><font=color><font color=black><font=color><font size=2><font=size>



[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: Tennisace ]</p>