The city of Kolkata is waiting to see the darling of Indian tennis, Sania Mirza, in action at the Sunfeast Open, but the question mark over her participation in the Tier III WTA event still remains, following her wrist injury.

Sania finally reached the city this evening, but the organisers have been tightlipped about her participation.

If she does play, third seed Sania will take on wild card entrant Sunitha Rao in the first round.

But whether or not she plays here, tennis buffs will be in for a treat with Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France and Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova in action.

Sania has been a regular in this event, but has not been able to win the singles crown yet, and that should be motivation enough for her to add to the lone WTA title she won in 2005 in Hyderabad. Bartoli will start her campaign against unseeded American Vania King.

Rao, ranked 208 in the world, will have a tough time against Sania, but the Indo-American girl said she would rather play a tough match against Sania. “I want to play her to know where my game stands, rather than have an easy match against a lucky loser,” she said. If Sania pulls out, a lucky loser will make it to the main draw to face Sunitha.

Top seed and world No 10 Bartoli has already said that this meet is a platform for her to gain some points before the tough European circuit before the WTA title meet in Madrid.

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