Feature Article

Chakvetadze, Bartoli, Dementieva, and Vaidisova Headed for Amelia Island

Posted by Aaress Lawless on Mar 5, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription

Tournament officials for the Bausch & Lomb Championships announced Wednesday morning that four of the top fifteen players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour have committed to join in the singles main draw field.

Anna Chakvetadze, Marion Bartoli, Elena Dementieva, and Nicole Vaidisova have been added to the already impressive player list.

The 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships is compiling a competitive field of returning champions, proven players, and those players new to Amelia Island.

“Once again we are delivering a world class player field,” said tournament director, John Arrix.

“These four players are a great representation of the new stars of the game. When you add these to the previously announced Davenport, Williams and Golovin, fans can be assured the ’08 draw will be one of the strongest fields played to date on the 2008 Tour calendar.”

As a debut Bausch & Lomb Championships player and as one of the most talented young stars on the Tour, 20-year old, Anna Chakvetadze enters the Bausch & Lomb Championships with seven Sony Ericsson WTA tour singes titles including a recent win this year at Paris.

Currently No. 9 in the world, Frenchwoman, Marion Bartoli, brings three Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles to the court in her quest to win the Bausch & Lomb Championships trophy. In 2007, Bartoli was a two-time runner-up at Prague and Wimbledon where she celebrated her first major final experience. Displaying a two-handed swing on both sides, Marion Bartoli enters the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships for a fourth bid.

As the fourth committed Bausch & Lomb Championships titlist, No. 10 in the world, Elena Dementieva will return to Amelia Island for the sixth time. She captured the 2003 Bausch & Lomb Championships title by defeating Lindsay Davenport in three sets. Dementieva last played the Bausch & Lomb Championships the year following her title confirmation in 2004.

Dementieva won her ninth career title on Sunday by defeating world No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships final.

From Prague, Nicole Vaidisova, No. 14 in the world, has demonstrated a promising start to the 2008 Tour season with a semifinal finish at Sydney and a quarterfinal run at Gold Coast. In 2007, Vaidisova saw her third straight Top 20 finish. Owning six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles, Vaidisova makes her second Bausch & Lomb Championships appearance.

The four newly committed players will join defending champion, Tatiana Golovin, 2002 former champion Venus Williams and 2004 champion Lindsay Davenport during the week of April 7 – 13 as the 2008 Bausch & Lomb Championships returns to the oceanfront resort of Amelia Island Plantation.

For a consecutive 29th year, fans are guaranteed a week of world class tennis and exciting action both on and off the courts.

To read more information about the Bausch and Lomb Championships, please visit www.blchamps.com.