Sania Mirza gets an opportunity to assess her form and recovery from a career threatening wrist injury when the Indian tennis star competes in World Team Challenge tournament, kicking off.
|Last Updated: Jan 06, 2009, 12:00 AM IST|Source: Bureau
Hong Kong, Jan 06: Sania Mirza gets an opportunity to assess her form and recovery from a career threatening wrist injury when the Indian tennis star competes in World Team Challenge tournament, kicking off.The event will also help the Indian ace prepare for the first Grand Slam of the year -- the Australian Open -- as the tournament features the big wigs of women`s tennis, including world number one Jelena Jankovic and multiple-Grand Slam winner American Venus Williams.
"Coming back from a career-threatening injury makes it very special to be back," Sania said.
The event pits three top players from Europe, Russia, America and Asia-Pacific against each other.
Sania will represent Asia Pacific along with team captain China`s Zheng Zie, who became the first player from her country to reach Wimbledon semifinals last year, and local player Zhang Ling.
The tournament will kick off with a match between number one players from the Asia-Pacific zone and top seeds Russia -- Zheng Jie and Vera Zvonareva.
Sania as number two player of the team will play the second singles against her nemesis and world number 18 Ana Chakvetadze.
Sania has never won a match against Chakvetadze, who emerged winner in all their four meetings so far, including the third round of US Open in 2007.
Sania could play only 12 tournaments last year due to a wrist injury and was forced to skip the French Open and the US Open, which resulted in a fall in her rankings to 100.
As per the format of the tournament, top two players from each team will compete in singles, while the third player called the `Star of Tomorrow` competes in doubles along with one of the singles players.
The four teams are placed into a semi-finals draw based on seedings determined by the combined WTA ranking of the two singles players from each team.
Each semi-final tie consists of two singles matches and one doubles match.
The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the J B Gold Group Final and the losers to the J B Silver Group Final. The J B Silver Group Final also consists of 2 singles matches and 1 doubles match.
The Gold Group Final consists of four singles matches and one doubles match.
Bureau Report
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.