Former No.1 Wozniacki headlines field at WTA stop in Korea

Caroline Wozniacki, the former No. 1 female tennis player in the world, will headline the field at the only annual WTA stop in South Korea set to begin this weekend.

The Danish star, now at No. 11, is one of four top-20 ranked players who will compete at the KDB Korea Open. The qualification rounds start Saturday and the tournament stage starts next Monday.

Wozniacki, who ended the 2010 and the 2011 season as the No. 1 player, is playing in the Korea Open for the third time. At her first appearance in 2006, the then 16-year-old had to play in the qualification round and was knocked out of the first round by Martina Hingis. Then the following year, Wozniacki also lost in the first round.

The other top-20 players are No. 14 Maria Kirilenko of Russia, the 2008 Korea Open champion; No. 16 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia; and the 18th-ranked Nadia Petrova of Russia.

The Korea Open started in 2004 under the corporate sponsorship of Hansol, a local conglomerate with businesses in paper products, chemicals and construction. Starting this year, Korea Development Bank took over as the title sponsor and raised the total purse from $220,000 to US$500,000.

Kirilenko has been a fixture in South Korea. She played here in five straight years from 2006 to 2010, and has returned for this year after playing in a Chinese event that overlapped with the Korea Open last year. The 25-year-old has five WTA titles in her career, but none since the 2008 Korea Open. She and Petrova teamed up to win the doubles bronze medal at the London Olympics. (Yonhap)