Venus & Jankovic join PTT Bangkok Open

The tournament, which is the biggest women's tennis event in Thailand is in its third year on the Sony Ericsson WTA tour calendar.

Included in the field for the PTT Bangkok Open are some of the big names of women's players. Newly crowned Wimbledon champion Venus Williams heads the list. The former world No 1 has a total of 14 Grand Slam titles to her name and her powerful performance at Wimbledon indicates she is back to her best form. Her win at Wimbledon catapulted her back into the top 20.

Venus will face some tough opposition, none more so that Serbien star Jelena Jankovic, who was voted most improved player on the WTA tour in 2006. This year she has proven to be the hottest player on the tour, and is the only player to have won on all three surfaces: a win on hard courts in Auckland, on clay in Rome and Charleston and on the grass in Birmingham have confirmed Jankovic's all-court status. Her quick rise up the ranking to number three has established her as one of the superstars of the WTA tour.

The third top twenty player to have signed up is Shahar Peer of Israel. Peer, who enjoys playing in Thailand, scored her maiden success in Pattaya last year and went on to win a hat-trick of titles.

She has consolidated her position in the top twenty this year and will be an extremely tough competitor to beat on hard court, which is her favourite surface.

Suwat Liptapanlop, president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand commented that he is really excited to have attracted the players of the calibre of Venus Williams and Jalana Jankovic to play in Bangkok this year.

"Venus's win in Wimbledon has proved that she is still a force to be reckoned with in women's tennis, while Jelena has had an amazing year and I am really looking forward to see them both in action in October," he said.

The qualifying rounds will be held on October 6 to 8, while the main draw will take place from 8 to 14. One of the semi-finals and the final will be televised live on local TV and throughout the Asian region.

Tickets are available at the following prices:

Saturday 6 -Sunday 7 : Admission free

Monday 8 -Thurday 11: Bt300 & Bt500

Friday 12 - Sunday 14: Bt500, 800 & 1,000

Sponsors of the tournament are PTT Public, Bangkok Municipal Administration, Sony-Ericsson, The Nation Publishing, Today Express, Dunlop, Yonex and Head.