Ana and Vera head the line-up
at the PTT Pattaya Open tennis

World No 2 Vera Zvonareva from Russia and former World No 1 and Grand Slam Champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia head a star-studded line-up at the US$220,000 PTT Pattaya Open, which will be held at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Pattaya from 6 – 13 February 2011.

The PTT Pattaya Open which was recently voted “Tournament of the Year” by the players on the WTA Tour will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011 and the event will be marked by one of the strongest player fields ever in the 20 year history of the tournament

Top seed for the tournament is world No 2 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, the defending champion who is looking to complete a hat-trick of wins after her victories in 2009 and 2010. She had her best season ever in 2010, reaching the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and the semi-finals in the year-end Championships.

She will face stiff opposition from Serbian Ana Ivanovic, a former world No 1 and Grand Slam Champion who is finding her form again with wins in Linz and Bali at the end of the 2010 season.

Ana’s ranking has risen to No 17 in the world and is she is tipped to return to the top ten again this year. Another player on the rise is Russian Maria Kirilenko who has powered to No 20 in the world thanks again to good form in the latter part of 2010, where she reached the final in Moscow and the semi-final in New Haven. She is also an accomplished doubles player winning tournaments in San Diego and Cincinnati. Completing the quartet of top players is Daniela Hantuchova of the Slovak Republic.

In 2010 Hantuchova was a finalist at Monterrey and semi-finalist in San Diego. Her career is distinguished by having won all four Grand Slam titles in the mixed doubles event.

Leading the Thai contingent is Tamarine Tanasugarn last year’s runner-up and winner in Osaka in October. She returned to the top 100 last year and will be aiming to go one better this year and win the tournament. Other Thai players will be joining her as wild cards into the qualifying and main draw in the tournament.

Qualifying for the PTT Pattaya Open will be held on 6 – 7 February, with the main draw running from 7 – 13 February. Main draw matches will start from 15.00 daily.