The 2009 Heineken Open featuring the Sovereign Singles and Doubles is set to have a top class field with the confirmation of the full player list today.
The January 12-17 tournament is highlighted by four top-20 ranked players as well as some of the fastest rising stars in the game, several players from the recent Davis Cup final and the return of both the finalists from 2008.
The top-20 players include current world No9, Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro who has had a remarkable year including a winning streak of 23 matches in a row beginning with his first career title at Stuttgart (beating Richard Gasquet in the final) and Kitzbuhel (defeated Jurgen Melzer for the title).
He followed that with two more back-to-back titles at Los Angeles accounting for Andy Roddick and Washington (beating Viktor Troicki) before the run of four in a row came to an end at the US Open quarterfinals with a loss to Andy Murray.
At No12 is the athletic Spaniard, David Ferrer a winner of the Heineken Open in 2007 and a player who has been as high as No4 and was the winner of titles at Valencia and s-Hertogenbosch while also reaching the quarters at Roland Garros this year.
Powerful Swede Robin Soderling is ranked at 17 and was a winner at Lyon and a finalist at Rotterdam, Memphis and Stockholm. Fourth seed will be world No18 is Spain’s Nicolas Almagro.
Almagro won his fourth career title early in 2008 by defeating Carlos Moya in the final of Costa Do Sauipe in Brazil. Shortly afterwards he won at Acapulco in Mexico beating then No8 David Nalbandian in straight sets in the final. There was also a quarterfinal result at Roland Garros.
The defending champion, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany and the 2008 finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero are both returning to provide more entertainment on court after what was a sensational final last January.
Kohlschreiber had a fantastic 2008, starting with the win in Auckland, he was also in the final at Halle on grass and the semifinals at Doha and Stuttgart.
For Ferrero the 7-6 7-5 loss at the Heineken Open was a bitter blow as he was aiming to add to his total of 11 career singles titles and to get his first since 2003. The former world No1 won Roland Garros in 2003 after being a finalist the previous year and was also a finalist at the US Open in 2003.
The field features three players who recently played in the Davis Cup final between Spain and Argentina they are Del Potro, Ferrer and Jose Acasuso ranked at No48.
Agustin Calleri is the next-in player to the main draw and also featured in the Davis Cup final.
A player of undeniable talent who is ranked just outside the world’s top-50 is Ernest Gulbis from Latvia. Known for his attacking style and his athletic ability the 20-year-old reached the quarters at Roland Garros with a win over James Blake and also reached the quarters at the Masters Series event in Cincinnati.
The tournament has a staggering six out of the eleven first time career-singles titles winners in 2008.
Del Potro who won his first title and then three more, tall American Sam Querrey gained his first with a victory in Las Vegas despite having a match point against him in the first round.
Spaniard Albert Montanes was another first time winner. The Barcelona native took out the Amersfoort title beating defending champion Steve Darcis in the final.
Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn came from nowhere to win the Moscow title defeating Marat Safin in three tough sets for the title. Romanian Victor Hanescu won his title at Gstaad beating No 10-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka in the semifinals and Igor Andreev in the final.
A surprise winner at Houston was Marcel Granollers(Spain) after storming through the early rounds he beat James Blake in the final for his first career title.
“To have four players in the top-20 is sensational,” says Heineken Open tournament director, Richard Palmer. “Having both finalists from the 2008 event return is great for the tournament, while players such as Gulbis are a real talent as are a number of first-time winners, many of whom are fresh faces to Auckland.”
Of the 19 direct entries seven are new to the main draw of the Heineken Open – Marc Gicquel, Granollers, Gulbis, Hanescu, Kunitsyn, Eduardo Schwank and Troicki.
The Heineken Open featuring the Sovereign singles and doubles will be held at the ASB Tennis Centre, January 12-17, 2009 with the first two days of qualifying January 10-11, 2009 at the Albany Tennis Park, Oteha Valley Road, Albany starting at 10am each day.
The 2009 tournament will feature live scoring as well as live streaming of play and audio podcasts.
www.heinekenopen.co.nz
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