Venus Williams Coming To Town? Ptt Bangkok Open

[mauiguy90]

Venus & Jankovic join PTT Bangkok Open 2007

The US$200,000 PTT Bangkok Open which will be staged in Bangkok from 6 -14 October 2007, has attracted leading women's tennis stars to its line-up as it makes its debut at the new National Tennis Development Centre in Muangthongthani.

The tournament, which is the biggest women's tennis event in Thailand is in its 3 rd 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 tennis. 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 Serbian 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 3 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 No 3 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 courts which is her favourite surface.

Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop, President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand commented that " we are really excited to have attracted the players of the calibre of Venus Williams and Jelena 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, whilst Jelena has had an amazing year and I am really looking forward to see them both in action in October."

The qualifying rounds of the PTT Bangkok Open will be held on 6 - 8 October, whilst the main draw will start from 15.00 daily from 8 - 14 October. One semi-final match and the final will be televised "live" on local TV and throughout the Asian region.

Tickets are available for the PTT Thailand Open at the following prices:

Saturday 6 October - Sunday 7 October: Admission Free

Monday 8 October - Thursday 11 October: 300, 500 & 800 baht

Friday 12 October - Sunday 14 October: 500, 800 & 1,000 baht

For further information and ticket bookings, call the ticket hot line: 02-3823491-3

My question is: Will Venus actually show up or is this going to be a repeat of the no shows at the Thailand Open?

[mauiguy90]

Apparently, Venus is in town! Although the Bangkok Post reported that Venus was scheduled to play today, the schedule from the website shows otherwise. Shahar Peer is scheduled to play, as well as Tammie Tanasugarn from Thailand (not before 6 pm) on center court.

Here is the link for today's order of play:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...%2008%20Oct.pdf

To those Sania Mirza fans, sadly, Sania is not in the draw.

Here is the link for the draw:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...TAII_LS_SMD.pdf

Edited October 9, 2007 by mauiguy90

[mauiguy90]

Just an update for Wednesday's order of play. Venus William's is scheduled to play at no earlier than 6 p.m. Jelena Jankovic, the 1st seed, is scheduled for the 2nd match of the afternoon session (1st match scheduled at 3 p.m.)

Here's the link for Wednesday's order of play for all 3 courts:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...%2010%20Oct.pdf

[mauiguy90]

Wow,big upset!! Jelena Jankovic, the #1 seed, forfeited her 1st round match after coming back to win the 2nd set in a tiebreaker. She lost to the Chinese girl, Yan Zi, 4-6, 7-5, Ret'd. These Chinese girls are very tough.

Apparently, Venus got rained out last night. Called Pentangle Promotions yesterday and they indicated that the courts are outdoor, part of the court is covered. Interestingly, some of the contestants have already played 2 matches and are into the quarterfinals.

Here's the link to the singles draw and the results:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...TAII_LS_SMD.pdf

Here's the link to the general website:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...07_mainpage.htm

You can use this link to check the latest results. If you are going to the matches, good luck! Hope you get to see Venus play. She has a tough draw even though Jankovic has lost/dropped out. Shahar Peer is in her quarter of the draw, as well as Flavia Penetta who beat her in the last tournament. In addition, if she makes the final, she needs to play 5 matches in 4 days and that's assuming good weather. Should be interesting! Here's hoping she doesn't pull an Andy Roddick!!!

Edited October 11, 2007 by mauiguy90

[mauiguy90]

A tired looking Venus Williams beat Tammie Tanasugarn in straight sets 6-4,6-1. The first set was closely contested with Tammie breaking Venus in the first game only to have Venus come back and take the set. The 2nd set was not very close but Tammie did make a good showing!

Link for Friday's Order of Play:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...%2012%20Oct.pdf

P.S. The Bangkok Open is not very easy to find since the courts are about a mile or so away from the Impact Arena and not well marked. Best to find a taxi from the Impact Arena who knows the way or bring the contact number for the tournament with you (02-382-3491-3) and have the driver talk to the office personnel. Probably due to the location, the event is not well attended (saw maybe 10 or so non-thais). Consequently, I recommend buying the cheap seats in the mid court area (its a very small facility) and take your pick of seats once you get inside.

Edited October 11, 2007 by mauiguy90

[mauiguy90]

Great turnout yesterday for the Shahar Peer-Flavia Pennetta match. Unfortunately for the large Israeli crowd, she didn't play her best tennis. In the 3rd set set she fell behind 5-0, possibly trying a bit too hard to please her very supportive fans. She made a comeback, taking a couple games which stirred the hopes of her fans briefly until Pennetta finally came away with the match.

Venus beat Camille Pin easily and is the first match on today. Kudos to Venus for playing great tennis and especially for showing up in contrast to others who either didn't show up to play(i.e. Nadal, Roddick, Djokovic) or dropped out! She is indeed a superstar!

Order of play for Saturday:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...%2013%20Oct.pdf

P.S. If you get to the Bangkok Open, make sure you take a look at the top seeded Chinese doubles pair Yan and Sun. Tiantian Sun won the Olympic gold in doubles and Zi Yan has won the Australian Open doubles. They are awesome!

Edited October 13, 2007 by mauiguy90

[parryhandy]

is the williams semi live on local tv anybody ?

[mauiguy90]

is the williams semi live on local tv anybody ?

Sorry, the match was televised on TITV(Channel 6). Friend called me at the last minute and told me about it. Unfortunately, Venus lost 6-4, 7-6(8). If you saw the match you know that Venus played a bit erratically but did make a match of it in the 2nd set. She was down a break in the 2nd set but broke back when Pennetta got a little nervous trying to serve out the match. Venus had her chances in a very close tiebreaker but couldn't get a return in on the numerous occasions she had to take command of the tiebreaker. However, Venus is still a champion for playing in this tournament in the first place.

Hopefully the final will also be telecast on TITV today. The Taiwanese player, Chan, made the final against Pennetta. Here is the order of play:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...%2014%20Oct.pdf

Here are the results of the singles:

http://www.pentanglepromotions.com/PTT%20B...TAII_LS_SMD.pdf

Edited October 14, 2007 by mauiguy90

[mauiguy90]

Flavia Pennetta won the singles 6-1, 6-3. The Chinese pair, Yan and Sun won the doubles in a walkover.

[marquess]

Flavia Pennetta won the singles 6-1, 6-3. The Chinese pair, Yan and Sun won the doubles in a walkover.

I went last week and saw all of Venus' matches! The place was difficult to find, there being no real signs and the parking was non existant. Still on the Friday I got to speak to Venus herself, that would never happen at Wimbledon or the Australian Opean which I have attended in the past. Still good that Venus came, never expected her, hope she comes back next year.

[mauiguy90]

Lucky you! Despite all the shortcomings of the tournament, it does provide a very intimate setting to watch some great tennis. It's quite a small facility but it does ensure that almost every seat is a great one. I was surprised when she made eye contact with me several times, while I cheered for her during the Tammie Tanasugarn match. Apparently, she appreciated fan support, especially with so many thai fans cheering loudly for Tammie.

She showed character by living up to her commitment to play in the tournament, despite the bugs, the rain, the isolated facility, small crowds and especially, Jankovic dropping out of the tournament. Hope she does come back next year. It wouldn't have been a tournament without her!

It would be great if next year's tournament is played at a more accessible facility, like the Impact Arena. I'm sure attendance would easily be doubled or tripled in a more conveniently located arena.

Edited October 23, 2007 by Maestro

[marquess]

I have been since it started and this was the first year that it was held at the tennis centre, previously it had been held at the tennis courts at Rama Gardens, which was a more salubrious setting, though the seating was not so good. Still the Asian Hopman Cup, is to be held 8-11 starting at 1pm, so I think I might take a drive down.