Stage Set For World Class Tennis
The world’s elite women tennis players are set to take
part in the Hastings Direct International Championships, starting
on Monday. For the first the top three internationally ranked
players will all be competing for the title at the Eastbourne
tournament.
World number one Amelie Mauresmo along with defending champion
Kim Clijsters and French Open winner Justine Henin-Hardenne
are the top three seeds for the prestigious event, first held
in 1975.
Clijsters is delighted to be defending her crown. She said:
“I am very excited to be going back to Eastbourne, it
was my first time there last year and I met so many nice people.
The crowd was really good and I had some great matches there
so for me it is the perfect tournament to lead up to Wimbledon.”
With four of the world’s top-ten and eight of the top-twenty,
the 2006 tournament has the strongest field ever assembled
at Devonshire Park.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, winner of the Eastbourne
singles title a record 11 times, will also be playing. She
partners South African Liezel Huber in the doubles event.
Navratilova was involved at Eastbourne the last time the
top two ranked players appeared, when she and Chris Evert
took part back in 1984. The two greats also contested one
of the best-ever Eastbourne finals in 1979 when Evert triumphed
7-5, 5-7, 13-11 to reclaim the world number one position.
British number one Anne Keothavong and number three Katie
O’Brien are competing in the singles and face Vera Dushevina
and Francesca Schiavone respectively.
Tournament Director Gavin Fletcher said: “This event
has a great pedigree, a great history and great tradition.
The fact that the top three players in the world are here
reflects how highly the players respect the Hastings Direct
International Championships.
“The grass is in fantastic condition, the courts are
very accessible for spectators and we’re looking forward
to a great week of tennis.”
Qualifying for this year’s event will take place between
Saturday 17 and Monday 19 of June 2006. The main draw will
be played between Monday 19 and Saturday 24 June 2006 at Devonshire
Park, Eastbourne. Each day’s play will commence at 11:30am.
|
