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ixteen of the top national male and female tennis players are set to meet in the 2012 Garuda Indonesia Tennis Masters tennis tournament next week.

The four-day event, which starts on Wednesday at the Borobudur Hotel tennis court in Jakarta, is the peak of a series of tennis tournaments including the recently concluded PGN International Tennis Tournament (Nov. 25–Dec. 2) and Martina Widjaja International Tennis Tournament (Dec. 2–9).

“It is the first time we’ve picked who is going to play based on their national ranking,” Tournament director Teddy Tanjung said during a press conference at the Borobudur on Thursday.

State-owned Garuda Indonesia president director Emirsyah Satar said the Rp 500 million (US$52,029) tournament also served as an arena for the Indonesia Tennis Association (PELTI) to find new young talents to be developed.

“We will look for the best programs for these new seeds, together with PELTI,” he said.

He said the company had initially tried to invite a “world tennis legend” for an exhibition match, but the timing seemed not to be right with the invited players unable to match the schedule.

Newly elected PELTI chairman Wibowo Suseno “Maman” Wirjawan said he expected that Garuda Indonesia would be able one day to hold a tennis tournament where athletes could earn points.

“So, our local tennis players don’t only have to go overseas to earn points,” he said.

Veteran tennis stars, including Tintus Wibowo, Yustedjo Tarik, Bonit Wiryawan, Dede Suhendar and Angelique Widjaja, will run a coaching clinic on the final day of the tournament before the final matches.

Christopher Rungkat and Ayu Fani Damayanti will be among the top players at this year’s tournament.

Christopher, 22, who is ranked 292nd by the Association of Tennis Professionals, grabbed three gold medals in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, while Ayu, 24, won a gold medal at the games and is now ranked 498th by the Women’s Tennis Association. Both Christopher and Ayu are first seeds.

Following Christopher are Elbert Sie (No. 15 in the national ranking), Sunu Wahyu Trijati (4), David Agung Susanto (9), Sebastian Dacosta (8), Indra Wijaya (2), Wisnu Adi Nugroho (3) and Irfandi Hendrawan.

In the women’s division, Ayu is followed by second seed Lavinia Tananta (No. 4 in the national ranking), third seed Jessy Rompies (2), fourth seed Voni Darlina (5), fifth seed Vita Taher (6), sixth seed Tria Rizky Amalia (8), seventh seed Vivien Silfany Toni (10) and eighth seed Deria Nur Haliza (11).

Vita and Wisnu, who attended the press conference, said they were excited and looking forward to the tournament.

Wisnu will make his debut in this year’s tournament, while Vita will be participating for the second time since 2010. “I feel happy and proud to be able to play in the Masters because it’s not easy to get in as we are picked based on our points,” 22 year old Vita said.