Venus Williams competes for the first time since losing to eventual champion
Justine Henin at the
US Open, appearing as the top seed this week at the Hansol Korea Open.
Joining Williams among the seeds are
Beijing champ
Agnes Szavay, Japan's
Ai Sugiyama, Russian
Maria Kirilenko, Greece's
Eleni Daniilidou, Germany's
Martina Muller, and Japan's
Aiko Nakamura and
Akiko Morigami.
Judging by William's high standards and the low quality of the field, anything less than a title could be a failure by the former No. 1-ranked American. Williams opens against a qualifier, than faces the winner of Aussie
Casey Dellacqua and Thai
Tamarine Tanasugarn.
Ahsha Rolle is the lone other American joining Williams in the draw out of the main draw acceptances.
Wildcards for the event went to Koreans Sung-Hee Han, So-Jung Kim, and Ye-Ra Lee.
Daniilidou is the defending champion, last year as an unseeded player upending the No. 4-seeded Sugiyama 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3).
