DJOKOVIC AND NADAL HEADLINE WORLD CLASS QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN, PLUS COMPLETE ENTRY LIST

Written by: on 3rd December 2014
SPANISH TENNIS PLAYER RAFA NADAL PLACES FIRST BRICK OF THE
DJOKOVIC AND NADAL HEADLINE WORLD CLASS QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN, PLUS COMPLETE ENTRY LIST

epa04502393 Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal speaks during a press conference held after laying the first stone of the "Rafa Nadal Academy", in Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain, 24 November 2014. The academy will cover an area of 24.014 square metres with 18 tennis courts, one school and one residence for young sportsmen from all over the world. EPA/Cati Cladera EPA/CATI CLADERA  |

Another exceptional list of players has been confirmed for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, 5-10 January 2015, the first tournament on the ATP World Tour calendar for the New Year. The 2015 tournament heralds the return of the defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain and for the first time the appearance of seven-time Grand Slam winner and current world No1 Novak Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia holds the championship trophy following his win over Roger Federer (R) of Switzerland in the men’s singles final of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Serbian, Djokovic has had a stellar year on the ATP Tour in 2014 winning seven titles including Wimbledon where he defeated Roger Federer in five sets in the final. He was also a finalist at the French Open and won five Masters titles as well as the Beijing tournament.

Nadal will be back in Doha for the seventh time, having won the event last year, making the final in 2010, the semifinals; 2012-13 and the quarter-finals in 2009 and 2005.

Despite injuries Nadal still had a record breaking year in 2014 capturing his ninth Roland Garros singles title in ten years with a four-set win over Djokovic to become the first player in tennis history to win at least one Grand Slam title for 10 straight years.

He also won the Madrid Masters and Rio de Janerio and was a finalist at the Rome and Miami Masters as well as the Australian Open.

The Qatar ExxonMobil Open has four players ranked in the top 10 with the addition of regular visitors Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) ranked No.7 and David Ferrer of Spain who is ranked tenth.

Berdych won his second ATP World Tour doubles title by partnering Jan Hajek to success in the final at Doha in 2014,

In singles he won his second straight Stockholm title beating Grigor Dimitrov in the final. Berdych also captured the Rotterdam title and was a finalist in Beijing, Oeiras and Dubai.

Ferrer became the first player to win three straight Buenos Aires titles, additionally he won the title at Vienna and made the finals at the Cincinnati Masters and Hamburg

Ferrer broke a 17-match losing streak on clay versus Rafael Nadal and gave Nadal his first Monte Carlo loss before the final since his debut in 2003.

Other players of note in the entry list include Latvian Ernests Gulbis who was a semifinalist at the French Open this year as well as Richard Gasquet, a member of the French Davis Cup team who played in the recent final and a 2013 winner of the ExxonMobil Open.

The cut off for the tournament direct entrants is Spaniard Nicolas Almagro ranked 71, a former top ten ranked player and three-time Roland Garros quarter-finalist.

Qatar ExxonMobil Open tournament director, Karim Alami believes it is one of the best tournaments ever with plenty of talent on display.

“We have four players in the top 10. It’s a great draw for the first week of the year; it’s a very important week in the calendar to go to Australia.

“It’s great to have Novak Djokovic the world No.1 here for the first time. I’m sure he’ll bring out lots of Serbian fans. To also have Rafael Nadal our defending champion returning is fantastic especially as we are the first tournament on his return from injury.

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after defeating Ernests Gulbis of Latvia during their match at the Exxon Mobil Qatar ATP Open Tennis tournament at Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar, on 06 January 2011. EPA/STR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“There is so much depth throughout the player list, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Ernests Gulbis, Fernando Verdasco a former top eight player and former champion Richard Gasquet, it is going to be a great tournament,”

Event sponsor ExxonMobil are pleased with the strength of the tournament and the talent they bring to Qatar from all over the world. “Thanks to the efforts of the Qatar Tennis Federation, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open continues to attract big names in the world of tennis,” said Alistair Routledge, Vice President and Joint Venture Interest Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar Inc. “We are thrilled to have such a star-studded list of players this year, and look forward to seeing them perform on the court next month.”

The tournament is held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex with tickets available from December 4 onwards at City Center, Landmark, Lagoona, Villaggio, on-site at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex and from www.qatartennis.org

 

 Qatar ExxonMobil Open 5-10 January 2015

Official Player Acceptance List

 

Ranking                Name                   Country

1             Novak Djokovic                 SRB

3             Rafael Nadal                      ESP

7             Tomas Berdych                 CZE

10           David Ferrer                       ESP

13           Ernests Gulbis                    LAT

24           Philipp Kohlschreiber       GER

26           Richard Gasquet FRA

27           Ivo Karlovic                        CRO

28           Leonardo Mayer               ARG

31           Lukas Rosol                        CZE

33           Fernando Verdasco          ESP

39           Dominic Thiem                  AUT

40           Benjamin Becker               GER

41           Pablo Andujar                    ESP

45           Andreas Seppi                    ITA

48           Mikhail Youzhny RUS

49           Denis Istomin                    UZB

55           Simone Bolelli                   ITA

58           Sergiy Stakhovsky             UKR

59           Jan-Lennard Struff            GER

62           Juan Monaco                     ARG

64           Paolo Lorenzi                    ITA

67           Teymuraz Gabashvili        RUS

69           Dusan Lajovic                    SRB

71           Nicolas Almagro               ESP

Alternates

74           Andrey Golubev                KAZ

89           Dustin Brown                     GER

90           Joao Souza                         BRA

93           Andrey Kuznetsov             RUS

96           Ivan Dodig                          CRO

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