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Chakvetadze Headlines Strong WTA Luxembourg Field
Posted on September 24, 2007
LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg -- The European indoor season gets underway this week as the stars of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour head to Luxembourg for the 12th staging of the Fortis Championships. Alona Bondarenko is the defending champion at the $600,000, Tier II event, but will face stiff competition for her title from among others, Anna Chakvetadze and Ana Ivanovic.
This week's top seed, Chakvetadze, has enjoyed a tremendous season to date, recording four tournament wins -- including the hardcourt titles at Hobart, Cincinnati and Stanford -- and recently breaking into the world's Top 5 for the very first time. In her last outing on Tour, the 20-year-old Muscovite made it all the way to the semifinals of the US Open and she will look to continue this rich vein of form in what will be the second appearance of her career in Luxembourg.
The No.2 seed at the CK Sport Kockelscheuer will be Ivanovic, who, like Chakvetadze, has enjoyed a truly memorable 2007. Since the turn of the year the 19-year-old Serb has achieved a runner-up finish at Roland Garros, title runs in Berlin and Los Angeles and has firmly cemented her place in the elite Top 10. Ivanovic will be making her third appearance at the Fortis Championships and she will be eager to erase the memory of the first-round defeat she suffered 12 months ago.
Chakvetadze is not the only Russian among the seeds and her compatriot, Nadia Petrova, is more than capable of going all the way to the title this week. The 25-year-old enjoyed an impressive North American hardcourt swing this summer -- highlighted by a runner-up finish in Los Angeles -- and will be desperate to carry this form into the indoor arenas of Europe. In her previous three visits to Luxembourg Petrova has never been beyond the quarterfinals and this is a statistic the No.4 seed will be keen to amend this time around.
Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova will be the tournament's No.4 seed and after already capturing one hardcourt title this year -- at Indian Wells -- she will be confident of repeating the feat in southern Luxembourg. The 24-year-old is a two-time quarterfinalist at the Tier II event and after runner-up and semifinal finishes in her past two tournaments, she will be confident of another good showing in the coming week.
There is certainly no shortage in quality in this year's field and with such strength in depth, the 2007 champion could come from anywhere in the draw. Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder, Shahar Peer and Tatiana Golovin are the No.5, No.6, No.7 and No.8 seeds and all have the potential to trouble the favorites this week.
Bartoli shocked Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic during her memorable run to the Wimbledon final, while Schnyder, Peer and Golovin have all experienced numerous hardcourt successes in the past. Reigning champion Bondarenko is not even among the seeds, but after a consistent year on Tour she will commence her defence in buoyant mood.
-- WTA Tour
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