Week #40 preview: Beijing

Beijing (CHN), Premier, $4,500,000
Asian season finds its summit at the Premier tournament of Beijing, one of the four big mandatory events in the season. The tournament takes place in the complex of Beijing Olympic Games 2008. Consequently all the top players are committed to play here. Only Ana Ivanovic, ill, and comeback Kim Clijsters will be absent. The fight for the title will be very open, as none of the top players seems to be at her best at this stage of the season. Russians Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva, American Serena and Venus Williams, Serbian Jelena Jankovic and Danish Caroline Wozniacki are the top seeds. Tokyo champion Maria Sharapova will try to confirm that she's back on top, while local players Na Li, Jie Zheng and Shuai Peng will count on the support of the Chinese crowd.