Hong Kong Tennis Classic 2010

[Helene]

Hong Kong Tennis Classic 2010
January 6-9 2010
Team Competition

Team Europe
Caroline Wozniacki
Victoria Azarenka
Stefan Edberg

Team Russia
Maria Sharapova
Vera Zvonareva
Marat Safin

Team Americas
Venus Williams
Gisela Dulko
Michael Chang

Team Asia Pacific
Jie Zheng
Ayumi Morita
Paradorn Srichaphan

[Helene]

Wednesday 6th January
4:30pm : Team Russia #2 Vera Zvonareva vs Team Asia-Pacific #2 Ayumi Morita
(Best of 3 tie-break sets)
Followed by (Not before 6:00pm) : Opening Ceremony (All Players Present)
Followed by : Team Russia #1 Maria Sharapova vs Team Asia-Pacific #1 Zheng Jie
(Best of 3 tie-break sets)
Followed by : 30 Minutes Break approx
Followed by : Team Russia - Marat Safin vs Team Asia-Pacific- Paradorn Srichaphan
(2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set)
Followed by : Team Russia - Maria Sharapova or Vera Zvonareva & Marat Safin
vs
Team Asia Pacific - Zheng Jie or Ayumi Morita & Paradorn Srichaphan

(2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set and no advantage scoring)



Thursday 7th January
4:30pm : Team Americas #2 Gisela Dulko vs Team Europe #2 Victoria Azarenka
(Best of 3 tie-break sets)
Followed by (Not before 6:00pm) : Team Americas #1 Venus Williams vs Team Europe #1 Caroline Wozniacki
(Best of 3 tie-break sets)
Followed by : 30 Minutes Break approx
Followed by : Team Americas - Michael Chang vs Team Europe- Stefan Edberg
(2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set
Followed by : Team Americas - Venus Williams or Gisela Dulko & Michael Chang
vs
Team Europe - Caroline Wozniacki or Victoria Azarenka & Stefan Edberg

(2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set and no advantage scoring)



Friday 8th January- Finals (1st Stage)
4:30pm : Silver Group Singles Final — #2 vs #2
(2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set)
Followed by (approx 6:00pm) : Silver Group Singles Final—#1 vs #1 (2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set)
Followed by : 30 Minutes Break appro
Followed by : Silver Group Men’s Singles Final (2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set)
Followed by : Gold Group Singles Final—#2 vs #2 (Best of 3 tie-break sets)


Saturday 9th January- Finals
11:00am : Silver Group Mixed Doubles Final (2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set and no advantage scoring)
Followed by (after trophy presentation) : 60 Minutes break approx
Followed by (not before 2:00 pm) : Gold Group Men’s Singles Final (2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set)
Followed by : * Gold Group Singles Final— #1 vs #1 (Best of 3 tie-break sets)
Followed by : 15 Minutes break approx
Followed by : *Gold Group Mixed Doubles Final (2 tie-break sets with a match tie-break in place of a third set and no advantage scoring)

[Helene]

FORMAT OVERVIEW
1. The format consists of four teams from the following four regions: Asia-Pacific, Russia, Europe and The Americas.

2. Each team will consist of 3 players, with two female and one male player.

3. The 4 teams are placed into a semi-finals draw based on seeding determined by the combined WTA singles world ranking of the female players from each team. Semi-final ties consist of 3 singles matches and one mixed doubles match (4 rubbers in total). For the singles matches between female players, the No. 1 player will play the corresponding No. 1 in the opposing team and the No.2 will play the No. 2. The male player will play the male player in the opposing team. The doubles will be a mixed doubles featuring a male and female pairing from each team and will be the last match played.


4. The team to win at least 3 rubbers will advance to the Gold Group Final and the losers to the Silver Group Final. Should a tie be drawn at 2 matches all, at the end of the mixed doubles, the umpire will announce that to determine the winning team, a “Golden Match Tie Break” (first to 10 points) will be played.

5. Both finals will follow the same format and consist of 4 rubbers.

6. The semi-finals will take place on the first 2 days of the tournament and the Silver Group and Gold Group finals will be spread over the 3rd and 4th days.

[Helene]

The Draw:

Semifinals

Team Europe vs Team Americas
Team Asia Pacific vs Team Russia

Winners Final = Gold Group
Losers Final = Silver Group

The Semifinals and Finals consist of 3 singles matches and 1 mixed doubles match.

[Helene]

Safin has withdrawn from Team Russia with a wrist injury and been replaced by Yevgeny Kafelnikov.