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Published on October 4, 2007

Jankovic, currently ranked third on the WTA, will be the highest-ranked player ever to enter the tournament, which is being held for the third consecutive year. The Serbian, one of the fastest-rising stars on the WTA tour this season, is widely recognised for her sweet smile even when it comes to a tight situation.

But beneath the smile lies the killer instinct. The 22-year-old from Belgrade is capable of generating power from both forehand and backhand from all over the court, ripping winners even when she is far from the baseline.

Her rapid motion on the court and good anticipation well describe why she has lifted four WTA trophies since January. She started the calendar year outside the top 10, but her incessantly impressive results - highlighted by the semi-final berth at Roland Garros and quarter-final in the US Open - have propelled her to peak at No 3 in the world.

The "smiling assassin" is one of the strong contenders for the Bangkok Open trophy, following Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic in the inaugural event in 2005 and Vania King of the United States last year.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Venus was inspired by former world No 1 Monica Seles when she started grunting. The louder she grunts, the harder she pounds the ball. Opponents on the opposite of the net are well aware that whenever "the Venus grunt" overwhelms the ambience, disaster is approaching.

After a run of dismal form, which saw her slump to 48 in the world last year, the pundits wrote Venus off, believing that she would never get back to the top. How wrong they were.

To everyone's surprise, the elder Williams, fitter and stronger than ever, was the last woman standing on the centre court at the All England Club in July and captured her fourth Wimbledon title. She has collected three trophies this year, the latest coming last week in Seoul.

Venus is quite familiar to the Kingdom as she featured in an exhibition here with Maria Sharapova two years ago in Chiang Mai. The former world No 1 fell in love with Thailand in her last visit and initially planned this year to go to Phuket and Hua Hin for a spa before the tournament.

Unfortunately, she is committed to the ongoing Japan Open in Tokyo and is likely to cancel her sightseeing trip here. But Chaiyapak Siriwat, the PTT Bangkok Open organising committee chairman, said the six-time Grand Slam champion could still spend some time at tourist sights if her mission in Japan were to end prematurely.

"She told me she would love to go to the Grand Palace and a spa. But if she is playing well in Tokyo, we might have to suspend all these activities," Chaiyapak said.

In addition to the two big names, world No 16 Shahar Peer of Israel will make a return to the country for the first time since lifting her first career title in Pattaya in February 2006. Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, Akiko Morigami and Aiko Nakamura of Japan, Zi Yan of China and Australian Open doubles runner-up Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan are all in this year's line-up.

American rising star King is coming back to defend her crown after she narrowly beat Tamarine Tanasugarn in a thrilling three-set final last year.

Tamarine has never before claimed a singles trophy on home soil despite reaching two finals, including the 1996 Pattaya Open. This could be the last shot for the 30-year-old player, who is in the final phase of her career.

The tournament will also feature a number of local junior players, who have also been given wild-card entries. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, the No-1 Thai junior has been given a wild card into the main draw in recognition of her performance in Pattaya earlier in the year. Others are Varatchaya Wongteanchai, Nicha Lertpitaksinchai and Sophia Mulsap, who have been awarded privilege cards into the qualifying based on their results in ITF junior tournaments.

Junior World No 1 and Wimbledon singles and doubles champion Poland's Urszula Radwanska, 16, is also given a wild card.

Suwat Liptapanlop, president of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand, said that "this year the focus has been to give a boost to the junior players. All six wild cards have been given to players who are 17 years and under, as they represent the future of the game. The Thai players who have received wild cards are the country's rising stars and we hope that they will learn a lot from their experience this week playing alongside superstars."

The tournament will start with the qualifying rounds, running from Saturday to Monday, with matches starting at 10am. Admission is free on Saturday and Sunday.

The main draw begins on Monday at 3pm.

Tickets are still available at Bt300, Bt500 and Bt800 for Monday to Thursday and at Bt500, Bt800 and Bt1,000 for next Friday to Sunday. Tickets can be purchased from either Thaiticketmajor (www.thaiticketmajor.com), or from Pentangle Promotions at www.pentanglepromotions.com.

Sponsors of the PTT Bangkok Open are PTT Plc, the PTT Group, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Rama Gardens Hotel, Sony-Ericsson, The Nation Multimedia Group Plc, Today Express, CS Loxinfo, Dunlop, Yonex and Head.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam