FORMER women’s world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki will be making her debut at the BWM Malaysian Open next year while Hsieh Su-Wei returns to defend her title at the tournament which also moves to a new venue.
Caroline and Su-Wei will be competing for a total of US$235,000 in prize money for a 32-player draw in the singles and 16-pairs for the doubles events on Feb 25-Mar 3 at the Royal Selangor Golf Club (RSGC).
Now ranked 10th in the world, Caroline ended the regular season making the finals of her last tournaments — winning in Moscow for her 20th WTA Tout title but losing in Sofia.
The Dane, who was No 1 in October 2010, is eager to make her first appearance in Kuala Lumpur.
“I am looking forward to my first visit to Malaysia and meeting my fans from the region. The Malaysian Open was become an important event on the WTA Tour and I feel honoured to be part of it in 2013. I look forward to competing with Malaysia’s and Asia’s best players,” said Caroline, 22, in a statement.
Caroline courted controversy at an exhibition event in Sao Paolo last weekend when she impersonated rival Serena Williams by padding her top and shorts to appear large-chested and have a large rear end, a prank that was lambasted by several media outlets.
Taiwan’s Su-Wei, a surprise winner last year, hopes to become the first players to successfully defend the Malaysian Open title.
“It's always good to come back to a place where I won a tournament,” said the world No 25 Su-Wei.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the tournament patron, announced that Aslina Chua, 16, has been handed a wild card into the qualifying draw after winning the 2012 BMW Malaysian National Circuit.
“I have been briefed that BMW’s commitment to the sport of tennis is not just at international level here but at the local level as well where they recently concluded a local tournament, the BMW Malaysian National Circuit, where over 600 aspiring tennis player competed over four legs of open competition, which anyone over the age of 14 was eligible for entry.
“I am gievn the privilege of announcing that the winner of the circuit is Aslina Chua, who is now eligible for one of the wild cards for the BMW Malaysian Open qualifier,” said Dr Mahathir at the tournament launch at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The fourth edition of the tournament will take place at RSGC after being held at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort the last three years.
