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Nusa Dua, Bali. Being the top seed may not do Marion Bartoli much good.

Even with top billing, Bartoli received a tough draw in the inaugural Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions on Monday. She was drawn into Group A with Israel’s Shahar Peer and Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.

Bartoli, 12th in the WTA Tour rankings, has one win in her seven matches against Peer, beating the Israeli at Wimbledon in 2007. She lost their most recent meeting in March at Indian Wells in the US.

Against Rybarikova, France’s top women’s singles player is 2-1, with all three matches taking place this year. Bartoli won in the Monterrey Open last 16 in March and in Beijing last month, with Rybarikova winning in August at New Haven, Connecticut.

“I think all the players who qualified for this tournament are great players. All of them have won tournaments,” said Bartoli, who qualified for Bali after winning in Monterrey. “I just want to enjoy my game here and play at my best, but I’m optimistic.”

The Tournament of Champions starts on Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua. The winner of each three-player group advances to the semifinals.

Peer, meanwhile, was just happy to avoid any drama securing an entry visa to Indonesia, which has no official diplomatic relations with Israel. She said she was eager to end the season on a high note.

“I’ve been performing up and down along this year because of a stress fracture on my foot, but I’ve been working hard to be at my best again and won two consecutive tournaments in September,” the 22-year-old said. “I think everybody, including myself, has a chance to win, but I really want to end the season with another trophy.”

Peer won the Guangzhou International Open on Sept. 14 and the Tashkent Open a week later.

Australian No. 1 Samantha Stosur, who won the Japan Open last month, is in Group B with Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain and Hungary’s Agnes Szavay.

Stosur and Martinez Sanchez were absent from Monday’s draw. Tournament director Kevin Livesey said they were due to arrive later on Monday night after playing doubles at the Sony Ericsson Championship in Doha.

The only Asian player in the tournament is Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, who was drawn in Group C with third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues.

The 39-year-old Date-Krumm, who returned to the WTA Tour this year after 12 years off raising a family, is the oldest player in the tournament and received a wild card to play in Bali.

She relished the chance to play up-and-coming stars of world tennis and also wanted to set an example for the earthquake victims in West Sumatra.

“I really wanted to play in Bali, so I was so happy when they gave me the wild card,” she said. “I want to show to the tsunami and earthquake victims here that it’s never too late to restart your life, just like what I’ve done.”

Date-Krum retired in 1996. She became the oldest player in the Open era to win a singles title on the WTA Tour, taking top spot in the Korea Open on Sept. 27. Billie Jean King won at Birmingham, Alabama, in 1983 at the age of 39.

Group D features fourth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany, Melinda Czink of Hungary and France’s Arevane Rezai.

Deputy president director of Commonwealth Bank, Andriaan Laoh, said the tournament could spark tennis’ development in the country.

“We’ve been sponsoring this tournament for five years and it’s getting more popular in Asia,” he said. “We hope this tournament will encourage young tennis enthusiasts in Indonesia to be better players in the future.”