Eight players already announced their commitment to join the Malaysian Open scheduled this September - (pictures in sequence) Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez, Nikolay Davydenko, Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco.
Malaysia is located near to the equator, so it's extremely hot and humid throughout the year.
Although the tournament is going to be held indoor, there's still high possibility that you'll see the players shirtless on and off court especially during practice, jogging and changovers.
Here's a preview of what you'll most likely see (I mean hot bods!) between September 26 to October 4, 2009.
On Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a media launch organised by IMG at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
I did not know it was the launch of an ATP 250 event as the invitation only stated 'a major annual sports and entertainment event for Malaysia'.
But I sort of know that it was a tennis event - or else why would they want to invite me.
As soon as I registered myself as a tennis blogger (the Media Director was a bit surprised), I took my 'goodie bag' (still not knowing it was the launch of the Malaysian Open) and searched for a place to check out the 'freebies' in the bag.
In the 'goodie bag' - An official guide to pro tennis 2009, ATP World Tour 2009 season book and a ATP 250 Malaysian Open notebook.
Now I bet you can imagine how happy I was when I finally saw the ATP 250 and Malaysian Open logos on the bag!
Then I met up with loose cannon who introduced to me the reporters and people from the press like the Malay Mail and NST.
Being kiasu, I quickly went into the conference room and grabbed the front seat so that I can get a good view to record some footage.
While most people from the media were still outside, I wassitting inside enjoying the slide show - I couldn't believe my eyes that Kei Nishikori, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, David Ferrer, Gael Monfils and Nikolay Davydenko were some of the players who will be here in September!
With a James Blunt's song in the background, I got goosebumps and a chill running down my spine. I can't remember how many tweets and text messages I've sent out sharing the great news.
So, Kuala Lumpur won the right to host the prestigious ATP World Tour 250 for a period of five years from this year until 2013.
The Malaysian Open, to be organised by IMG, a world leader in sports and lifestyle marketing, will carry a total prize money of USD947,750, more than the amount offered at Thailand Open which is to be held on the same week.
This event will be held at the 16,000-capacity indoor Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Sept 26 till Oct 4. Very, very near to my house indeed!
The Malaysian Open joins the Thailand Open, China Open, Japan Open and Shanghai Masters as Asian events on the ATP Tour schedule.
"There is great demand for cities to host ATP World Tour events and in particular within the Asian region," said Brad Drewett, CEO of ATP International.
"Kuala Lumpur presented a very strong application to become part of the ATP World Tour."
Here's the launch video which I want to share with you.
Tournament director Nick Freyer, who is also IMG Senior Vice-President and Head of Tennis for Asia, confirmed the participation of the 6 players mentioned earlier in this post.
If you haven't watch the welcome messages in my previous blog post, here we go again:
Freyer who received a 'special phone call' in the middle of his speech, later invited the Prime Minister to announce the participation of another player, who turned out to be 2009 French Open runner-up Robin Soderling.
Initially I thought that gimmick 'phone call' came from Roger Federer!
Now during the Q&A session, I managed to ask a question. I was glad when the tournament director assured that wildcards will be given based on merits. I'll be disappointed if wildcards will be given to local players whom I believe not ready to play at this level yet.
The event ended on high note when the Prime Minister officially launched the event and the official website (www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com).
Right after the event, I quickly dashed to the registration counter, got myself the press kit and an extra 'goodie bag' for Esther.
Before I end this post, let me share with you some information which I've got regarding the Malaysian Open. I bet you want to know things like the schedule of event, ticket price, venue and facilities, etc.
After months of speculation, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is confirmed the latest stop on the ATP World Tour!
At HCFoo's Tennis Blog, we promise to bring you both on-court and off-court coverage of the ATP 250 Malaysian Open between September 26 to October 4, 2009!
Before I share with you my experience at the press conference today, let me share with you the messages from the players - David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Gael Monfils and Kei Nishikori are some of the big names who will be playing in Kuala Lumpur!
The other players who have confirmed their participations are Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez.
For more info regarding about the tournament, visit the Malaysian Open official website.
It was boring, rain-interrupted day at Roland Garros. Seriously.
I went to bed early and didn't bother to blog about until the next day.
Perhaps I didn't get enough sleep for the past couple of days.
So, Serena Williams needed 9 match points to win her first round match at the French Open? No kidding.
Serena who called her performance “horrendous" finally overcame 100th-ranked Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.
Jelena Jankovic had an easy win, defeating Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-3.
Nice nails to match your lovely dress, Jelena!
One of my favourite, Svetlana Kuznetsova also had an easy win. She beat Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4.
Gael Monfils had seriously debated not playing at Roland Garros at all this year because of the chronic tendinitis in his left knee.
It had been also more than a month since he had played a match on tour.
However, in his first round match yesterday, Monfils showed he was not rusty on court as he rolled past Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in just 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Monfils fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also picked up win against Julien Benneteau 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-French affair.
Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had little trouble in his first match at Roland Garros, beating another Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
According to James Blake, being an American his main goal of the year are Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
And because of that he was eliminated 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 by Leonardo Mayer, a qualifier from Argentina.
Leonardo who was making his Grand Slam debut is currently ranked 93rd in the world.
Another American, Mardy Fish also failed to move to the second round.
He was defeated by Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Reuters reported that Gael Monfils was on the verge of withdrawing from the French Open on Wednesday because of a knee injury. In an interview after the exhibition match in Rueil where he lost 6-4, 6-0 to Marcos Baghdatis, Monfils said, "If I had to decide today, the answer would be no," the world number 11, who reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros last year.
"I clench my teeth but my knee is still hurting. I'll make my decision at the last minute. I have six days left as I have asked to play on Tuesday. I still believe a miracle will happen," he added.
According to French federation doctor Bernard Montalvan, the 22-year-old Monfils suffers from an inflammation of the kneecap which could require surgery and a long period of rehabilitation. Updates: Monfils was at the Disneyland Paris together with Stanislas Wawrinka for a promotional event.
Twins Bob and Mike Bryan put up a great performance at the Prince EXO3 Player Party at the Southern Star Observation Wheel on the eve of the Australian Open.
Bob showed good form on the keyboard, while Mike gave the drums a good pounding.
Mike Bryan plays the drums.
Bob Bryan on the keyboard.
Guess what, Frenchman Gael Monfils also ended up on stage, taking over from Bob on the keyboard!
Vince Spadea and Gael Monfils
The Prince team organised the party for its players to take a spin on the Observation Wheel.
However Daniela Hantuchova missed the party at the very last minute.
Apparently she suffers from a form of motion sickness and did not want to risk a spin in the wheel on the eve of the Open. (Via news.com.au)
Philipp Petzschner upset Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday in the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy final for his first ATP Tour title.
The 125th-ranked German, who had never been beyond the quarterfinals of an ATP event before, had to play two qualifying rounds to reach the main draw and became only the third qualifier this season to win an ATP tournament.
“This is unbelievable, I can’t describe my feelings now,” Petzschner said. “I will enter the top 100, which makes a dream come true.”
The 24-year-old Petzschner played his opening qualifying match less than three hours after arriving on a flight from Tokyo.
He went on to beat top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka, former No. 1 Carlos Moya and 2004 champion Feliciano Lopez on his way to the title.
“This has been an incredible week for me, everything went perfect,” Petzschner said.
The 8th-seeded Monfils has lost five of his six career finals.
“I am disappointed but I had a good week anyway,” said the 28th-ranked Frenchman, who had beaten Petzschner in straight sets in their only previous match last month.
“Philipp was the better player today. He just was more aggressive so well done to him.”
Monfils will enter the ATP top 20 for his highest ranking ever.
“This win gives me a lot of confidence, I now see what I have been working for all year,” Petzschner said.
“My goal next season will be to get into the top 50.”
However Petzschner and Alexander Peya of Austria lost 6-1, 7-5 to Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel in the doubles final.Mirnyi secured his 35th career trophy, while Ram won his 14th title.
The pair was competing together for the first time this week.
“It’s easy to play with Max. He told me he has won a number of tournaments multiple times with different partners. It’s easy when you pick up one of the best doubles players," said Ram.
"It’s one of my best experiences I have ever had and I certainly learned a lot from one of the best doubles players ever this week. Perhaps we’ll play together again when Jonathan [Erlich] stops playing!”
(Images via Bank Austria Tennis Throphy official website)
In less than 24 hours, we'll be witnessing the Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympics 2008. Many top players are already here in Beijing.
We'll have a quick look at who has arrived yesterday. So far I've not seen Cincinnati Masters champion, Andy Murray yet. And too bad, many high profile players such as Marcos Baghdatis, Andy Roddick, Richard Gasquet, Nikolay Davydenko as well as Mario Sharapova are not here to add glitter to this event. Shame on them.
Elena Dementieva (Russia)
Venus Williams (USA)
Lindsay Davenport (USA)
Jelena Jankovic (Serbia)
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
And hey, the French tennis Olympic's team players (from left) Paul-Henry Mathieu, Youlia Fedossova, Alize Cornet, Gael Monfils, coach George Goven and former player Cedric Pioline pose at the "Club France".
And here's the bonus; as soon as Djokovic arrived he was seen shirtless and signing autograph after a training session at the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Centre.
(Images via Great Tennis Photos, GABRIEL BOUYS/CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Spanish 5th seed David Ferrer bites the dust when he lost to the unseeded Gael Monfils who became the first Frenchman to reach the last four at Roland Garros for seven years with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-1.
"I prepared well for this tournament, I'm trying to take as much as pleasure as I can but also to keep focused. With the crowd and my family backing me, I feel very strong. I have raised my level progressively, I played beautiful tennis."
Monfils is now bidding to become the first home winner since Yannick Noah in 1983. He will meet world no. 1 Roger Federer tomorrow for a place in this Sunday's final.
Now Monfils sure has all the reasons to celebrate and join the shirtless players Hall of Fame.
(Images by AP Photo/ David Vincent/ Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
If you like what you see, book your tickets now. Go to: http://malaysianopentennis.com/tickets.html
