Now that the WTA Championships in Istanbul have come to a close, let's shift our attention to the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions which is about to start on November 3 in Bali. The Tour actually announced the draw of the really-season-ending tournament on the day the much more important season-ending tournament commenced (how awkward is that?), but I decided to postpone the Bali talk until Istanbul finishes.

You know that in order to qualify for the event in exotic Bali you have to win an International-level WTA tournament in the ongoing season and not qualify for the WTA Championships in Istanbul which features the best eight singles players of the year. To make things even more complicated, Marion Bartoli did not qualify for Istanbul and was therefore eligible to play Bali, but as the first alternate in Istanbul she did eventually play the event because of Maria Sharapova's withdrawal. Nevertheless, Bartoli is still qualified to play Bali. Pretty messed up. But hey, let's see who's in. Read more »

In an interview before the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, the tournament where Ana Ivanovic reached the second round with a 7-6(2) 6-4 win over Virginie Razzano, but lost her following match to Anne Keothavong 6-3 6-2, the 23-year-old said that she was still troubled by the back injury which started bothering her in Beijing, but she would not skip the tournaments finishing the season, including the Tournament of Champions in Bali where she’s a wildcard entry and defending champion.

In the mentioned interview Ivanovic stated she would continue to play despite the inflammation in her back, which had probably been present for some time but became evident during the China Open. The Serb said she would exercise caution with the injury and we can assume she didn't change her mind about traveling to Bali after today's loss to the 93rd-ranked Keothavong.

Britain's Keothavong recorded her biggest victory in terms of opponent's ranking by beating the former world No.1 Ivanovic, currently world No.23. The peculiarity of their encounter, their first career meeting, was also that Ivanovic's new coach, Nigel Sears, used to coach Keothavong. The Brit was open about the situation:

It felt a little weird too seeing someone who has helped me so much with my tennis over the years sitting in the opposition's box.

Sears was also discussed in the mentioned interview. Ivanovic has been satisfied with their collaboration, and they are working on improving her game with more structure and consistence. Her goal in 2012 will be to get back to Top 10 and win another Grand Slam. (via Beyond the Baseline, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Ana Ivanovic asked for a wildcard for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions and the organizers were glad to make her the first wildcard pick. The Serb played the tournament last year and won the title in the final against Alisa Kleybanova, who is now battling a serious illness of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The $600,000 Bali tournament gathers eight best performers of the season from International-level events. November 3-6 this year will see the third edition of the tournament. The inaugural Bali was won by Aravane Rezai. (photo: sr_cranks)

Ana Ivanovic had ups and downs during the 2010 season, but her clawing back to good form has reached its peak when she won the Generali Ladies Linz title three weeks ago and backed it up this weekend by winning the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali.

To win the last tournament of the WTA calendar unseeded Ivanovic defeated third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarters, Kimiko Date Krumm in the semis, and Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 7-6(5) in the final.

We can now safely say this season can be remembered as a good one when it comes to Ivanovic, even though in July she had her lowest ranking in five years at No.65. The end of the year was good for her, as she won 13 of her last 15 matches and the Bali title will bring her back into the Top 20, for the first time in a little bit over a year.

As for Kleybanova, she was looking for her third title of the year, which would at the same time have been her third career title and her third one in Asia. But despite the defeat in the final, the 21-year-old Russian’s 2010 was her career-best year. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic may have downgraded from playing Doha two years ago to playing the lower-rate Bali, but she’s on a good way to get back to the Top 20, being one win away from achieving that.

On the day of her 23th birthday, Ivanovic defeated Kimiko Date Krumm, the only player in the Bali field whom she wasn’t familiar with, and reached the final of the last tournament this season.

The 40-year-old Date Krumm won the first three games of the match and had double set point at 5-3, but Ivanovic then went on a six-game streak to win the first set and lead 2-0 in the second. Still, even though Ivanovic was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, Date Krumm managed to stay in there, forced a tiebreak and won it despite trailing at first. The third set was Ivanovic’s, as she broke her opponent in the first and seventh games to move into the final with a 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2 victory.

The other finalist is Alisa Kleybanova, who defeated Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-1 in the semis. Kleybanova was the one who took out defending champion Aravane Rezai in the previous round. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Newly-acquired BMW driving skills were of no help to Aravane Rezai against Alisa Kleybanova in their opening match at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali.

Together with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who was dominated by Ana Ivanovic on Thursday, Rezai practiced reversing, maneuvering and braking in the new wheels of BMW X5 in Bali, but on the tennis court it was Rezai’s opponent who was in control, beating her 6-1 6-2.

Rezai didn’t manage to defend her Bali title, but will always stay in the history of this new WTA tournament, as the winner of the inaugural edition of the Balinese event.

Kleybanova is looking for her third title in Asia this year, after Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. Her next opponent will be the winner of the match between Yanina Wickmayer and Daniela Hantuchova. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The second edition of the $600,000 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, the last tournament of the WTA season, will feature up-and-coming stars, but also established players including Grand Slam champion Ana Ivanovic.

To qualify for Bali and its tropical fun a player had to win an International-level event during the season and be one of the six highest-ranked players who did not qualify for the WTA Championships.

Here’s the 2010 Bali field, including one International-level title a player has won in 2010:

Li Na – Birmingham
Aravane Rezai – Bastad (won the Bali title last year with Marion Bartoli retiring in tears after losing the first set 7-5 in the final)
Yanina Wickmayer – Auckland
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - Monterrey
Ana Ivanovic – Linz
Alisa Kleybanova - Kuala Lumpur
Daniela Hantuchova (wildcard)
Kimiko Date Krumm (wildcard)

This year there will be no round-robin format at Bali and thus all the players have received a bye in the first round. Li, Date Krumm, Pavlyuchenkova and Ivanovic are in the top half of the draw, Hantuchova, Wickmayer, Kleybanova and Rezai are in the bottom half.

What do you think of the Bali tournament being scheduled to take place after the WTA Championships? Wouldn't it be better to finalize the season with the WTA Championships? I feel that the new Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions is decreasing the feeling of the elite and grand ending to the season that the WTA Championships are bringing. (photos via Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions)

Ana Ivanovic had to part ways with Heinz Gunthardt because his family and other obligations prevented him from being 100% dedicated to Ivanovic, while she needs a full-time coach – someone to accompany her at all tournaments and training periods.

Partnership with Gunthardt, which started in February 2010, brought improvements to Ivanovic's game. Their cooperation ended after the China Open.

Ivanovic will not have a coach by her side in Bali, but she claims to have no problem with that as she went all the way to the Generali Ladies Linz title without a coach. (source: AnaIvanovic.com, photo: © Neal Trousdale)