Austrian Barbara Schett, preparing to defend her Uniqa Grand Prix title on Tuesday, said she regretted signing a sponsorship deal with a British tabloid newspaper during the Wimbledon championships.

Blonde-haired Schett was paraded by the Daily Mirror as the "new Kournikova" after Russian Anna Kournikova missed the grasscourt Grand Slam through injury.

"Its definitely the last time I'll do something like that, 

especially with a tabloid," Schett was reported as saying by the APA news agency. "I didn't know it was going to turn out that way."

The Mirror's support for "Babsi" nearly backfired when the 25-year-old struggled to reach the second round before losing 6-3, 7-5 to Jelena Dokic in the third.

"I played really well in Wimbledon," she said. "I should have won the second set against Dokic."

Now Schett, seeded fourth for the Vienna championship, is preparing to defend her Austrian title against the likes of Dokic, Russia's Elena Dementieva and German Anke Huber.

"You have to get used to the courts here," Schett said.  "I'm glad I'm not playing til Wednesday. Everyone is expecting that I'll play well here. But its going to be a lot harder to win than last year as the competition is stronger."

Schett is scheduled to face South Africa's unseeded Joannette Kruger in her first round match on Wednesday.