Henin returns to action at Porsche Grand Prix

STUTTGART, GERMANY (TICKER) -- Not since the U.S. Open has a WTA event seen such a collection of talent.
Including world No. 1 Justine Henin , eight of the world's top 10 players will be in action this week at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

In what will be her first action since winning her seventh career major at Flushing Meadows last month, the top-seeded Henin headlines a draw that includes Svetlana Kuznetsova , Jelena Jankovic and Anna Chakvetadze , who have all received a first-round bye as the top four seeds.
The only top five player absent from this Tier II indoor hardcourt event is world No. 4 Maria Sharapova , who continues to be troubled by a nagging shoulder injury.

Other top 10 players here are Ana Ivanovic , Serena Williams , defending champion Nadia Petrova and Daniela Hantuchova .

Henin has won seven of her 36 singles titles this season, including a victory at the French Open, and has rolled to a 50-4 record. This however, is one event that the 25-year-old Belgian has yet to conquer in five attempts. She was a runner-up in 2001 and 2003 when the event was in nearby Filderstadt.

The player Henin defeated in the U.S. Open final, Kuznetsova is the No. 2 seed here. The 22-year-old Russian had a strong summer hardcourt season, capturing her only title of the year at New Haven prior to her run at the year's final major, which vaulted her to a career-high No. 2 ranking.

Kuznetsova, who won two matches to help Russia defeat Italy in the Fed Cup final last month, was a semifinalist here last year before falling to Petrova.

The third-seeded Jankovic looks to build on what has already been an outstanding season. The 22-year-old Serbian has piled up a 70-19 record en route to winning four titles and making a eight final appearances this year.

She has had trouble in recent final appearances however, dropping her last three including a loss to Hungarian upstart Hungarian Agnes Szavay last week in Beijing.

Another player having a breakout season is the fourth-seeded Chakvetadze, who has won four of her six career titles in 2007. The 20-year-old Russian had an outstanding summer hardcourt season with back-to-back wins at Cincinnati and Stanford prior to being a semifinalist at the U.S. Open.

In the only first-round matches scheduled Monday, Tatiana Golovin cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Martina Muller and Dinara Safina rallied for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win against Katarina Srebotnik .

A native of France, Golovin was the runner-up to Petrova here last year, but avenged the loss earlier this season when she defeated the Russian in the Amelia Island final to claim her first title.