{blackbabes} Djokovic, Venus headline China Open

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BEIJING (AFP) - World number two Novak Djokovic and American superstar Venus Williams are headed to Beijing for the China Open, an event that will bring many of the world's top tennis players to town from Saturday.

Both the ATP and WTA tours have made the hard-court tournament, which runs through October 10, a key part of their long-term strategies for growing the game in the vast nation.

While the sport's dominant duo Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are scheduled to play in Shanghai in mid-October, they have opted out of the Beijing event, clearing the way for Djokovic to defend the title he won last year.

The 23-year-old Serb, who this month helped his country secure a spot in the Davis Cup final against France, will face a tough challenge from Britain's Andy Murray, who has been out of action since a third-round loss at the US Open.

Seven of the world's top 10 men will compete in the Chinese capital including French Open runner-up Robin Soderling of Sweden, Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko.

Djokovic is taking nothing for granted. On his website, he said he would "face a big challenge during the next few weeks" with three titles to defend—Beijing, Basel and Paris—before the season-ending championships in London.

On the women's side, the draw lost some serious star power with the withdrawals of world number one Serena Williams and US Open champion Kim Clijsters, both recovering from foot injuries.

"I am very sorry to have to cancel for Beijing," the 27-year-old Clijsters said on her website, adding there was was "no doubt" that she would be ready for the season-ending WTA championships in Doha.

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, currently number two in the WTA rankings, will be the top-ranked woman in Beijing, while Williams' sister Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam winner and world number three, will be her main challenger.

Also in hot pursuit of the title will be on-form Russian Vera Zvonareva, who has climbed to a career-high number four in the rankings after finishing runner-up to Clijsters at Flushing Meadows.

Last year's winner, Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, will be looking to bounce back after crashing out of the Pan Pacific Open in Japan this week in straight sets to unheralded German Andrea Petkovic.

Her compatriot Maria Sharapova also will be looking for redemption after being unceremoniously dumped from the Tokyo event in the first round by Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm, who turned 40 on Tuesday.

Serbian number six Jelena Jankovic—who has had good luck in Beijing, reaching the final in 2007 and winning the title in 2008—will be eager to perform well after falling to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in Tokyo.

The China Open is played at the National Tennis Centre. The women's main draw gets under way on Saturday and the men's on Monday.

The following is a preliminary list of seeds:

Seeds

Men

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1)

Andy Murray (GBR x2)

Robin Soderling (SWE x3)

Nikolay Davydenko (RUS x4)

Tomas Berdych (CZE x5)

Fernando Verdasco (ESP x6)

Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x7)

David Ferrer (RUS x8)