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Kloten director remains upbeat

Ritschi insists there is life in Kloten after Hingis (swissinfo)

The director of Switzerland's biggest women's tennis tournament has told swissinfo that the Swisscom Challenge still has plenty to offer despite the weekend withdrawals of Martina Hingis and Serena Williams.

The final few days of preparation before the start of the one million dollar event in Kloten are always a hectic time for the organisers. But this year was far more frantic than usual.

On Saturday Williams announced that she did not want to leave her family and friends in America following the start of US military strikes on Afghanistan. Just hours later Hingis injured her ankle ligaments, forcing an early end to the Swiss star’s season and leaving the Kloten tournament without the local favourite.

“To say that the weekend was a nightmare for us would be putting things a bit strongly,” Ritschard told swissinfo on Monday. “At the end of the regular season the risk of injuries is greater than earlier in the year so it’s a situation we’re fairly used to.

Difficult

“Clearly, everyone here hoped that Martina would be coming to defend her title and in that respect it makes things a bit more difficult for us than in earlier years. But we still have the world’s top player (Jennifer Capriati) here and world number three Lindsay Davenport so I think there will be some great tennis.”

While Ritschard was quick to offer his condolences to Hingis after hearing of the scale of her injury, he had much less sympathy for the arguments given by Serena Williams.

“There are some withdrawals in professional tennis that I think are not good for the sport. Tennis isn’t just about entertainment, it’s also a professional business. And as long as the players are demanding big salaries they also have to take responsibility for their actions and realise that the organisers need to know if they are coming to tournaments or not.”

Ritschard added that one benefit of not having Hingis and Williams in contention this week could be the opportunity for young, upcoming players to show their talents. As well as having three of the world’s top ten players the tournament has been able to attract all ten of the players ranked between 11th and 20th in the world.

Hopes rest on Mikaelian

Of course the best tonic for home fans disappointed at the absence of Hingis would be a strong run of performances from another Swiss player. Following Patty Schnyder’s rapid departure from the tournament on Monday, though, there is now only one homegrown player left in contention – Lausanne teenager Marie-Gaïané Mikaelian.

“I am hoping for that too,” says Ritschard. “It would be especially good for Mikaelian to have a good first round match here after coming through the qualifying rounds as a young talented player. Hopefully this week can show the Swiss community that, yes, we may have lost Martina, but there are still good players around.”

by Mark Ledsom, Kloten

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