At the end of October, the top Bulgarian tennis player, Magdalena Maleeva, finally made a return to the top of the tennis world.

This week, the 25-year-old from Sofia found a place among the 16 best female tennis players in the world who are competing for glory at the Sanex Championships - the season-ending event and world championships of the Women's Tennis Association. Unfortunately, Maleeva made a quick departure from the prestigious event, losing in the first round to the world's top-seed, American Jennifer Capriati, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday.

Maleeva was making her return to this big tournament after a six-year absence. She has participated in the event twice before, in 1993 and 1995, but lost both times in the first round. In those appearances, she was bettered by Germany's Anke Huber and Holland's Brenda Schulz.

In 1994, Maleeva, the youngest of three sisters, also qualified but was forced to withdraw due to an injury.

For the first time since 1987, the championships were played away from New York's Madison Square Gardens and instead held in Olympiahalle in Munich. It also marked the first time the event has not taken place in the U.S. since 1972, but this was not attributed to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The goal was to attract new sponsors and extend the geographical scope of the tournament.

This year's tournament was also unique due to its record high prize fund of $3 million. This amount is roughly a 30 per cent increase from last year.

Unfortunately for Maleeva, the draw wasn't as kind, matching her up with the world's number one player. In seven meetings with the American, Maleeva has only registered two victories.

At the beginning of 2001, Maleeva outlined her goals. "This year, I will be striving to come back to the top 20 in the world, but my biggest goal is participation at [the season-ending championships]. I have not forgotten that, in 1994, I was only 19 years old and I had fourth position in the world rankings, and after 11 years in professional tennis I have won a lot of prestigious tournaments. Now my appetite is very strong and I dream to return among the 16 best."

Maleeva managed to fulfill her intentions by reaching the semifinals of big tournaments in Tokyo, Paris and Linz, and the finals in Nice and Leipzig, and taking first place in Budapest. This resurgent year saw the Bulgarian achieve victories over some of the leaders in the world of tennis. This list includes Venus Williams, Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Nathalie Tauziat from France, Germany's Anke Huber and Elena Dementieva from Russia.

Bulgarian participation in this championship event has been limited to the Maleeva sisters. The highest achievement at the tournament was by Manuela Maleeva, who, in 1987, reached the semifinals, where she lost to Argentina's Gabriela Sabatini. Apart from that, Manuela, who without doubt has been the brightest name in Bulgarian tennis, was invariably one of the participants in the year-end championships from 1986 to 1993. The third sister, Katerina, has made five appearances at the championships, and her best was reaching the quarterfinals in 1990.

The Sanex Championships will crown a victor this Sunday.