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Former champ Kirilenko joins field at China Open

By Yu Yilei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-16 11:00

Russian world No 53 Maria Kirilenko was given a wildcard by the organizers of the China Open yesterday, which ensures all past winners of the WTA-ATP joint tennis event will show up in the capital next month to vie for top honors.

From left to right: The men's championship trophy of the 2009 China Open, the women's championship trophy, the doubles championship trophy and the runners-up trophy.[China Daily]

Kirilenko, the 2005 Open women's singles winner, should have competed in the qualifiers to enter the main draw of the 2009 edition as the Beijing WTA tournament has been promoted to a $4.5 million premier event this year.

However, the wildcard sees the Russian, a former world top 20 player, join the main draw of 64 which includes the world's top 47 players, eight qualifiers and four other wildcards. The remaining spots have been saved for the semifinalists at the Tokyo Pan Pacific Open, which will be held the week before the China Open.

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The organizers said they believe the reunion of past winners will provide one of the highlights of the Open, which will be held at the National Tennis Center, the venue of the tennis tournament at last August's Beijing Olympics. Past winners Serena Williams of the US (2004), Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia (2006), Agnes Szavay of Hungary (2007) and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia (2008) secured their places through their rankings.

"This is the best line-up ever," said the tournament's managing director, Zhang Junhui.

A similar reunion will be seen in the men's tournament; a $3,337,000 ATP 500 event. The organizers have already given wildcards to Russian Marat Safin, the winner of the 2004 event who is to retire at the end of this season, and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, the winner of the 2006 event. Past winners Rafael Nadal of Spain (2005), Fernando Gonzalez of Chile (2007) and Andy Roddick of the US (2008) have confirmed their participation.

"It will be interesting to watch such a reunion in an innovative tournament held in a brand-new venue," Zhang said.

Organizers said newly-crowned US Open champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium has asked for a wildcard but has not confirmed her trip to Beijing. There are still three women's wildcards to be given out.

On the men's side, Croat Marin Cilic, a semifinalist at the US Open, received the last wildcard.

To celebrate the 2009 tournament, the organizers recently unveiled new champion and runners-up trophies.

Different from the pottery and crystal trophies of past tournaments, the new trophies are made of gold and silver and are in the shape of ancient Chinese artifacts.

The men's championship trophy, made of gold, looks like the Gold Cup Inlaid with Treasures from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), one of the top 10 collections at the Forbidden City. The women's championship trophy, also made of gold, is in the shape of Zilong Ding, the three-legged ancient cooking vessel which was smuggled out of China but returned to the country in 2006.

The trophy for the doubles winners, made of gold, looks like a bronze Jue, an ancient Chinese wine cup.

The runners-up trophy is a plate made of silver and is in the shape of the Fish and Dragon Plate, a treasure made in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

"I hope the trophies will provide an ideal interpretation of the long history of the city of Beijing," Zhang said.

Like the Grand Slams, the winners are only able to keep replicas of the trophies. However, their names will be carved on to the authentic trophies which will be stored at China's National Museum.