Ranked 102nd in the world, Tamarine will re-enter the top 100 for the first time in a year after poor results and injuries saw her slip down the rankings in 2005.

The former world No 19 appears to have regained her confidence and form after she reached her first quarter-final on the WTA tour in more than a year in Kolkata two weeks ago before losing to eventual champion Martina Hingis.

She will play the winner of the match between fifth-seeded Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus and 2002 Asian Games gold medallist Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan.

In other first round matches, Russian Alla Kudryavtseva beat Hungarian Kira Nagy 7-5 6-3, top seed Maria Elena Camerin ousted China's Jing Ren 6-1 5-7 7-5 and Belarussian Ekaterina Dzehalevich moved past Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-3 6-2.

Meanwhile, organisers BEC-Tero Entertainment plan to boost ticket sales for next year's Thailand Open by having either two-time champion Roger Federer or world No 2 Raphael Nadal play in the tournament.

Managing director Brian Marcar said this year's ticket sales were down on the past three years due to the political situation and a lack of big stars. He claimed the withdrawal of the injured Marcos Baghdatis and the early exit of Juan Carlos Ferrero played a part in the poor ticket sales.

Marcar said he would try to attract some big stars next years. Two-time French Open champion Raphael Nadal will be his main target for 2007, but if he cannot persuade the Spaniard to come, he will try Federer, who won here in 2004 and 2005.

Bondarenko wins

nUkraine's Alona Bondarenko beat experienced Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-2 on Sunday to capture her first career title with victory in the Luxembourg WTA tournament.

 "I didn't think about how it was a final, and that I could win or lose; I just played, and concentrated on every point," said Bondarenko, one of three tennis-playing sisters.

Meanwhile, Italian second seed Filippo Volandri fought back from a set down to beat Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti 5-7 6-1 6-3 in the final of the Palermo ATP event on Sunday.

In winning the title, Volandri became the first Italian to win the clay tournament since 1984 when Francesco Cancellotti triumphed.

 "I wanted to win at all costs, it was very important to me," Volandri said said. "Emotionally it was a difficult match and I knew this was a great occasion for me. It would have been a huge disappointment had I not won here."

Meanwhile in Guangzhou, Russian teenager Anna Chakvetadze cruised past Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1 6-4 in the Guangzhou Open for her first WTA singles title on Sunday.

 "I knew I had to be really aggressive today, and it worked," 19-year-old Chakvetadze said.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, Maria Kirilenko of Russia became the first seed to fall when she lost to local hope Akiko Morigami in a final-set tie-breaker at the Japan Open tennis tournament yesterday.

The third seed, who also crashed out of the Korean Open first round a week ago, continued her gloom losing 1-6 6-2 7-6 (7/3) to the 83rd-ranked Japanese in the women's first round.

Former Japan Open champions Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark and Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic both needed to work hard before clearing the first hurdle.

The 2002 champion Carlsen outclassed Japan's Goichi Motomura 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 6-2, while the 2004 champion Novak defeated his compatriot Robin Vik 4-6 6-4 6-4.