European tennis stars aim high at PTT Bangkok Open

    Heading the list is Italian Flavia Pennetta, who in 2006 held down WTA top 20 rankings in both singles and doubles. Pennetta, who holds 5 WTA titles had a poor start to the season, but recovered her form on the South America swing, reaching the semi-final in Bogota and final in Acapulco. She followed this up with a semi-final in Barcelona and despite slipping in the ranking she will remain a threat in Bangkok.

    French woman Virginie Razzano, a former double junior Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open and Roland Garros has climbed into the top 40 this year on the back of some very consistent performances, her most recent was in reaching the final in Forest Hills last month. In addition she has reached the semi-finals in Barcelona, and has made quarterfinal appearances Auckland, Los Angeles and Toronto in 2007.

    The third player is another of the crop of exciting youngsters who are steaming up the WTA rankings. 18 year old Dominika Cibulkova, who has both looks and talent, has jumped from 156 in the rankings at the end of last year to no 58. She has made 2 quarter-final appearances so far in 2007 at Stockholm and Prague.

    Qualifying for the tournament takes place from 6 - 7 October, with the main draw running from 8 - 14 October. Tickets are on sale at

300 and 500 baht for the period 8 - 11October and 500, 800 and 1000 baht for the period 11 - 14 October.

    One semi-final and the final will be televised "live" on ITV on Saturday 13 October and Sunday 14 October.

    For further information, contact Pentangle Promotions Co., Ltd,

Tel: 02-3823491 - 3 Fax: 02-3823490 or visit the tournament website at www.pentanglepromotions.com 

    Sponsors of the PTT Bangkok Open include, PTT Public Co., Ltd, the PTT Group, Bangkok Municipal Administration, Sony Ericsson, Rama Gardens Hotel and Today Express.