Venus to join her sister Serena at Bangalore Open

Bangalore, Feb 4 (UNI) Venus Williams became the latest celebrity player to join the field that would also see her sibling Serena in action n the USD 600,000 Bangalore Open beginning here on March 3.

While Serena had confirmed her participation earlier, the entry of reigning Wimbledon Champion Venus in the Tier-II WTA event was announced by Tournament Director Sunder Raju at a press conference here today.

He said that it was for the first time in India the two sisters, who together have logged 37 million dollar prize money together, would bee participating in an event.

The multi-grandslam winners are sure to enthrall the tennis lovers, he said adding, "It is a unique situation that the two star tennis players will be playing other than in a Grandslam event," he added.

Raju said that the confirmation 6th ranked Venus was received from her office.

The 27-year-old California born is the Olympic medalist and has 14 Grand Slam titles to her credit. Out of this six were singles (4 Wimbledon and 2 US Open), six women's doubles and two mixed doubles titles.

"This is surely an exciting time for tennis in India. Venus is a champion beyond comparison. I am sure that Venus' confirmation coupled with Serena, will take tennis fans in India by storm." UNI MSP RS TS1407