Doha: World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia and defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain will kick-off their new season at next month’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) announced yesterday.
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic will be making his maiden appearance at the season-opener set to take place between January 5 to 10.
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.
Nadal will be back in Doha for the seventh time, having won the event last year, making the final in 2010, the semi-finals in 2012-13 and the quarter-finals in 2009 and 2005.
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 10th. Berdych won his second ATP World Tour doubles title by partnering Jan Hajek to success in the final at Doha in 2014.
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
Other players of note in the entry list include Latvian Ernests Gulbis who was a semi-finalist 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 said 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 ahead of the Australian Open.
“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 have Rafael Nadal, our defending champion, returning is fantastic especially as we are the first tournament on his return from injury.
“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 event,” he said.
Event sponsors ExxonMobil are pleased with the strength of the tournament.
“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 today at City Center, Landmark, Lagoona, Villaggio, on-site at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex and from www.qatartennis.org, organisers said.
The Qatar leg is the first tournament on the ATP World Tour calendar for the 2015 season.
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