THE WTA Malaysia Open field continues to gain depth as organisers Carbon Media confirmed more top 100 players for the tournament.
Besides the big-name trio of Marion Bartoli, Peng Shuai (pic) and Venus Williams, the organisers have confirmed up and coming Croat Petra Martic for the event which will be held on Feb 27-March 4 at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.
The 21-year-old is currently ranked no 55 in the world and is seeded fourth for the event. Having recently reached a career-high ranking of 47 last September, the lanky 1.81m croat will look to make her mark at the tournament.
Also in the list are Great Britain's Anne Keothavong (73), Greece's Eleni Danilidou (86) and the evergreen Tamarine Tanasugarn (93) of Thailand. Despite being at the latter stages of their careers, Danilidou and Tanasugarn, who are both former top 25 players, will have a wealth of experience to bank on.
Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, who is currently just outside the top 100, is also confirmed for the event and after struggling with injuring her forearm at the 2010 US Open will look to recapture the form that took her to a career-high ranking of 21 in late 2009.
Joining Japanese third seed Ayumi Morita will be fellow up-and-coming compatriots Kurumi Nara, Erika Sema and Misaki Doi who will look to emulate Morita's consistent performances at the Malaysian Open where she reached the quarter-finals last year and the semi-finals the year before.
Peng Shuai, the second seed, who was upset by Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic in the second round of the Australian Open , said would be using the Malaysian Open as part of her preparation for the London Olympics later this year.
“I have never been to Malaysia before and I am very excited to come to Kuala Lumpur. I heard great things about the country and the event and especially about the great atmosphere and the amazing fans," said Peng Shuai in a statement released by the organisers.
“I am looking forward to meeting my fans at the BMW Malaysian Open 2012 and to say that I am coming to Malaysia to play my best tennis and prepare for the Olympic Games later in the season and I hope to go all the way to the final and win the trophy at Kuala Lumpur" she added.
Main Draw Player list
1 BARTOLI, MARION (FRA), 2 Peng Shuai (CHN), 3 Ayumi Morita (JPN), 4 Petra Martic (CRO), 5 Jelena Dokic (AUS), 6 Anne Keothavong (GBR), 7 Eleni Danilidou (GRE), 8 Bojana Jovanovski (SRB), 9 Tamarine Tansugarn (THA), 10 Irina Bremond (FRA), 11 Venus Williams (USA), 12 Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN), 13 Sania Mirza (Ind), 14 Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB), 15 Misaki Doi (JPN), 16 Casey Dellacqua (AUS), 17 Erika Sema (JAP), 18 Laura Robson (GBR), 19 Caroline Robson (GBR), 20 Nina Bratchikova (RUS), 21 Yvonne Meusburger (AUT), 22 Kristina Mladenovic (FRA), 23 Kurumi Nara (JPN), 24 Chang Kai-Chen (TPE)
