By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer staff writer

WOMEN'S TENNIS

What: Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open When: Saturday-Aug. 22 (qualifier Saturday-Sunday, main draw Aug. 16-22) Where: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason Tickets/info: (513) 651-0303; www.cincytennis.com.

Ticket sales for the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, which begins Saturday with a two-day qualifier, have already nearly matched the total from the last women's event here, the 1988 Pringles Light Classic. This event is already ahead in terms of average per session.

There were 47,675 tickets sold in 1988 over 15 sessions, a 3,178 average. As of last Friday - the most recent figures available - 45,062 had been sold for the 12 upcoming sessions, an average of 3,755.

"I think it's a good sign," said Bruce Flory, tournament director for both events. "This is such a great region, and they've asked for so long to see the women play."

Attendance for the men's W&S Masters event last week averaged 8,142 per session.

The presale on women's tickets is impressive, given the conflict with TV coverage of the Olympics.

The 30-player field, the same size as in 1988, looks about the same at the top. There's one top-10 player, ninth-ranked Vera Zvonareva of Russia, and another in the top 20: No. 19 Elena Bovina, also from Russia. In '88, there was one top-10 player - then-No. 7 Manuela Maleeva - and two others in the top 20.

Yet this year's tourney is deeper. All 21 players who got in by direct entry rank in the top 100, as does wild-card recipient Ashley Harkleroad. The '88 event included 10 top-100 players.

"Fans may not know some of the players, but they won't be disappointed with the quality," Flory said. "You don't know which of these players will be the next stars."

The tourney still has two wild cards to award.

It has given qualifier wild cards to two-time defending NCAA champion Amber Liu of Stanford; Ukraine native Tania Luzhanska, who won the Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Championship; and UC graduate Kara Molony-Hussey, a four-time Met winner.

Molony-Hussey and her sister, Lyndsey Molony, were awarded a wild card for the main draw of the doubles tournament.

E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com