Tennis Kremlin Cup to kick off in Moscow

 Tennis Kremlin Cup to kick off in Moscow

MOSCOW, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- A bunch of world's top tennis players were expected to participate in the 23rd Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow starting from Saturday, the game's organizers said Thursday.

In the women's part, the players included Australian Samantha Stosur, the No. 7 on the WTA ranking, 11th Marion Bartoli from France, 12th Maria Kirilenko from Russia, 13th Ana Ivanovic from Serbia and others.

The men's part of the Kremlin Cup boasted world 15th Ukrainian Alexander Dolgopolov, 27th Andreas Seppi from Italy, and 30th Victor Troicki from Serbia and others.

The event, to be held in the Olimpiysky Arena¹ in the Russian capital, will run until Oct. 21.

The total prize fund worth more than 1.5 million U.S. dollars, provided by the Bank of Moscow.

The Kremlin Cup has been held annually² since 1990, when it has become the first international professional tennis tournament in Russia.

1 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

2 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。