Hernych joins fellow Czech Minar in main draw

Dubai: Two Czechs, an Australian and a Russian are the four qualifiers going through to the main draw of the men's competition at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.

Jan Minar will be joined by fellow Czech Jan Hernych, while Joseph Sirianni of Australia and Mikhail Ledovskikh of Russia will be the other two entering the main draw that gets under way from today.

Hernych defeated Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-4, 7-5 while Minar settled for a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Laurent Recouderc of France.

Sirianni defeated Wesley Moodie of South Africa 6-1, 6-4 and Ledovskikh accounted for a 6-2, 6-4 win over Karim Alayli of Libya.

Minar will play Igor Andreev of Russia on court number one, while Hernych will face Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka on court number 3. Both matches are scheduled to start at 2 pm.

Jankovic top seed

World number four Jelena Jankovic, meanwhile, has been top seeded top at the $600,000 WTA Bangalore Open, add agencies.

The 22-year-old Serbian is followed by the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, in India's richest tennis tournament, starting today.

The spotlight will be on the top three seeds after Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza opted out of the tournament to avoid controversy.