Malaysian Open Women's Tennis 2010: Key players announced!

The Malaysian Tennis Classic 2010, which is part of the Sony Ericsson WTA Mini Asian Tour is now officially known as The Malaysian Open.

Thanks to Joash of Carbon Media Management for sending me the press release of this women's tennis tournament as I couldn't make it to their presser due to work commitment.

The WTA event will take place at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort from February 22-28, 2010 right after the Chinese New Year.

The players list released by the organiser, Carbon Media Management are Elena Dementieva, Li Na, Sabine Lisicki, Jie Zheng, Melinda Czink, Magdalena Rybarikova, Jelena Dokic, Sania Mirza, Kimiko Date Krumm, Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Unofficial names of players who may also be gracing the Malaysian shores are Vania King, Chang Kai-cheng, Lucie Safarova and Sybille Bammer.

The tickets are extremely affordable! Regular season ticket only costs you RM328!

You can get your tickets via TicketPro outlets or via their ticketing hotline +603 7880 7999 or website.

Weekend winners

Nikolay Davydenko recovered from being bagelled in the first set and then saved two match points in the second set to defeat Rafael Nadal 0-6, 7-6, 6-4 and win the Qatar Open title in Doha.

Wildcard recipient Yanina Wickmayer won the Auckland title, defeating top seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

In another women's tennis event Down Under, Kim Clijsters defeated Justine Henin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 in an all-Belgian final in Brisbane on Saturday.

The doubles final was won by Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka who edged Melinda Czink and Arantxa Parra Santonja in a match tie-break victory, 2-6, 7-6, 10-4.

In the men's event, Andy Roddick took the Brisbane title by holding on for a 7-6, 7-6 win over Radek Stepanek.

In the men's doubles final, Marc Gicquel and Jeremy Chardy upset no. 1 seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes in the final, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Marin Cilic has defended his Chennai title by defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6(2), 7-6(3) in the final.

Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Santiago Ventura won the doubles title, defeating Janko Tipsarevic and Rendy Lu Yen-hsun 7-5, 6-2 in the doubles final.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Faces we love to see this new ATP/WTA season

Oh, and not forgetting this... *evil grin* :D

(Images via yahoo! Sports)

TENNIS WATCH: What's up Down Under?

• Earlier this week, Andy Roddick and wife Brooklyn Decker visited the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.

But guess who steal the show?

Roddick tweeted about two koalas making love that stole the limelight during his visit.

• The protest at Israeli Shahar Peer's match ended with an arrest today. The demonstrators belonged to local activist groups opposed to Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
  

Peer said the noise was disruptive but only increased her determination to win. She won 6-0, 6-1 against Magdalena Rybarikova.

More protests are planned for tomorrow. I guess this will continue until the Australian Open later this month.

• The recently retired Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro may play in Australian Open. If he does, he'll be the only player to have played Grand Slam events across four decades. He first made his Slam debut at the French Open in 1989.

• Now all top players want to participate in the Kooyong exhibition, including Robin Soderling who confirmed his presence after losing in the first round of Chennai.

Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, Tommy Haas are also booked for the eight-player round robin event.

One last spot is currently being held for Roger Federer who's in taking part in the Qatar Open this week.

Andy Murray and Andy Roddick also have indicated that they may want to play at Kooyong if they do not get sufficient preparation this week.