After a disappointing second-round exit at the US Open, Swiss Martina Hingis plays her seventeenth tournament of the season at the Sunfeast Open, in Kolkata, India, a Tier III event with total prize money of US$175,000. The tournament runs from September 18 through the 24, 2006.
Swiss Martina Hingis is the top seed, while last year’s runner-up, Croatian Karolina Sprem, is seeded second. Ukraine’s Yuliana Fedak is seeded third followed by French Aravane Rezai as the fourth seed. Lurking behind is Indian Sania Mirza, seeded fifth. Estonian Kaia Kanepi is seeded sixth, while Australian Nicole Pratt and Russian Anastassia Rodionova are seeded seventh and eighth respectively.
Hingis’ first round opponent will be Hungarian Melinda Czink. Hingis and Czink meet for the first time in their careers. Then, unheralded Tzipora Obziler of Israel or Yulia Beygelzimer of Ukraine are Hingis’ possible second-round opponents. Then, in the quarterfinal round, Hingis might face Estonian Kaia Kanepi. Sania Mirza, meanwhile, appears to be her most likely semifinal opponent. Should the seedings hold, Hingis would likely meet Croatian Karolina Sprem in the final round for the title.
