Russian pin-up Anna Kournikova left the Qatar WTA tournament organisers heartbroken on Sunday after pulling out of the event.

As if her withdrawal was not bad enough, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez of Spain also withdrew from the 170,000-dollar tournament which gets underway here on Monday.

The 20-year-old Kournikova had been played up as a trump card by the organisers but now it will be left to American Monica Seles to salvage some of the gloss for the show.

"We are disappointed to announce the withdrawal of Anna Kournikova from the event," said a Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) official.

"She informed us that she wouldn't be able to play in Doha. Anna had confirmed her participation a long time back.

However, Kournikova has decided to play at the 585,000-dollar Antwerp event which clashes with the event here.

Former world number one Martina Hingis had also decided earlier to put her tired feet up and rest following her victory in Tokyo last week.

Seles will be the top seed in Doha and will be looking to recover from her semi-final defeat at the hands of Jelena Dokic in Paris last week.

She has a first round bye and could face Spanish veteran against wild-card entry Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain in the last four.

Despite a nagging foot injury, Seles reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the final of the Tokyo event two weeks ago, falling to Hingis on both occasions. In fact, so focused is she that she has already set her sights on the French Open crown.

"I have some hard work ahead of me and I want to stay healthy and get ready for the French Open - that's my main goal," Seles said.

Sanchez-Vicario, with four Grand Slams to her name, is on the hunt for her 30th career title - she has the admirable record of collecting at least one title every year and she has been doing this for the last 12 seasons.

Another tough rival here will be 30-year-old Frenchwoman Sandrine Testud but her progress could be hampered by the recent neck injury which forced her to pull out of the Paris event last week.

Seeds:

1. Monica Seles (USA), 2. Sandrine Testud (Fra), 3. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spa), 4. Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha), 5. Angeles Montolio (Spa), 6. Rita Grande (Ita), 7. Tatiana Panova (Rus), 8. Nicole Pratt (Aus)