Hong Kong tennis exhibition headed up by Jankovic, Sharapova, Williams & Zheng

The J B • GROUP Classic 2009, a tennis exhibition in Hong Kong set to take place January 7th-10th, will have a star-studded lineup. There will be four groups of players and Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams and Zheng Jie will lead their groups.

The event will feature teams of three players from four regions of the globe, Team Europe, Team Russia, Team Americas and Team Asia Pacific. The third player in each group is a possible Star of Tomorrow.

Team Europe
Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) – World No.1
Agnes Szavay (Hungary) – China Open Champion 2007
Michelle Larcher De Brito (Portugal) – Portuguese No.1

Team Russia
Maria Sharapova (Russia) – Australian Open Champion 2008
Vera Zvonareva (Russia) – World No.7
Alexandra Panova (Russia) – Star of the Future

Team Americas
Venus Williams (USA) – Wimbledon Champion 2008
Gisela Dulko (Argentina) – South American No.1
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) – US Open Junior Champion 2008

Team Asia Pacific
Zheng Jie (China) – Wimbledon semifinalist 2008
Sania Mirza (India) –Indian No.1
Zhang Ling (Hong Kong) – Hong Kong No.1

The Hong Kong Tennis Patrons’ Association released details of the Tournament Format and Draw for the J B GROUP Classic 2009 World Team Challenge.

The Semifinals
Team Russia play Team Asia Pacific
AND
Team Americas play Team Europe

Each semifinal will consist of two singles matches and one doubles match. Winners of the two semifinals go into the J B Gold Group Final and Losers go into the J B Silver Group Final where they will play to determine the Champions of both groups.

In the J B Gold Group, the winners of the J B • GROUP Classic 2009 will be determined by a round of five matches consisting of four singles matches and a doubles match.