Francesca Schiavone leads the field at the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.
Schiavone gives the Malaysian Open some top five quality. The Italian accepted a late wildcard after a couple of early exits in the Dubai and Doha Premier events. Schiavone will be the favourite but she has a tough opener against the resurgent Jelena Dokic.
Marion Bartoli is the second seed in Kuala Lumpur. The former Wimbledon finalist enjoyed a run to the semi-finals in Doha last week and should feature strongly. Bartoli has been working a lot on her movement recently and feels it has made a big difference to her game. She has a tough quarter though with the unpredictable Lucie Safarova seeded to face her in the last eight and Dinara Safina also lurks as a dangerous floater.
Alisa Kleybanova remains a threat to the very best in the world and if the powerful Russian could only bring some more consistency to the table she could reach the top ten. She showed what she's capable of in Dubai, outhitting Vera Zvonareva on the way to the last four.
Jarmila Groth enjoyed a brilliant start to the year, winning Hobart and scoring a win over Francesca Schiavone in the Fed Cup. However she struggled amidst the super strong fields in Dubai and Doha and the Aussie will be looking to get back to winning ways as fourth seed this week.
