Maria Sharapova has reorganised her schedule and will not play the week before the first Grand Slam of the year 2008; the Australian Open. Sharapova isn’t the only big name who is absent from the Sydney tournament. Venus Williams (Wimbledon winner of 2007) and sister Serena Williams (AusOpen winner of 2007) won’t play either. But that doesn’t mean that Sydney is without any big names as they managed to attract the likes of Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova , Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic.
“We were trying hard to talk to Venus into coming, but she’s chosen not to play that week,” said tournament director Craig Watson. “Maria doesn’t want to play the week before (Melbourne) either.”
Venus Williams hasn’t played in Sydney since 1999 while sister Serena rather would like to play the Hopman Cup in Perth.
The Sydney International’s ATP tournament has only managed to attract 2 of the top 10 players, Richard Gasquet and Tommy Robredo, and thus has a lesser strong field. Other players include James Blake, Tomas Berdych and Carlos Moya. The main star of the event is however Leyton Hewitt and he can follow John Bromwich’ footsteps if he manages to win the tournament for the 5th time in his career next month. 
