The city of Kolkata is waiting to see the darling of Indian tennis, Sania Mirza, in action at the Sunfeast Open, but the question mark over her participation in the Tier III WTA event still remains, following her wrist injury.Sania finally reached the city this evening, but the organisers have been tightlipped about her participation.If she does play, third seed Sania will take on wild card entrant Sunitha Rao in the first round.But whether or not she plays here, tennis buffs will be in for a treat with Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France and Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova in action.Sania has been a regular in this event, but has not been able to win the singles crown yet, and that should be motivation enough for her to add to the lone WTA title she won in 2005 in Hyderabad. Bartoli will start her campaign against unseeded American Vania King.Rao, ranked 208 in the world, will have a tough time against Sania, but the Indo-American girl said she would rather play a tough match against Sania. “I want to play her to know where my game stands, rather than have an easy match against a lucky loser,” she said. If Sania pulls out, a lucky loser will make it to the main draw to face Sunitha.Top seed and world No 10 Bartoli has already said that this meet is a platform for her to gain some points before the tough European circuit before the WTA title meet in Madrid.Second seed Daniela Hantuchova is all set to continue with the purple patch she hit at the Bali Open after the nightmarish first round ouster in the US Open. Hantuchova is currently in Nusa Dua in Indonesia, where she emerged runner-up to Lindsay Davenport at the Bali Open.Wild card entrant Kyra Shroff of India faces eight seed Chan Yung-jan of Chinese Taipei, while Tara Iyer takes on Italian girl and seventh seed Flavia Pennetta. Tomorrow, qualifier Neha Uberoi will take on fourth seed Maria Kirilenko, while wild card Kyra Shroff will meet seventh seed Chan Yung-Jan.France’s Alize Cornet, seeded sixth, pulled out with a back injury. Cornet, who was due to arrive here today, informed the WTA tour officials about her decision. Her place in the main draw will be taken up by a lucky loser.
