Top line-up confirmed for Thailand Open 2013; three former champs in the field

PRESS RELEASE

The Thailand Open 2013 will be a hotly-contested tournament with a packed line-up of tennis stars revealed for the prestigious event.

Four of the world’s top 11 players lead the field: World #2 and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, #6 Tomas Berdych, #10 Milos Raonic and defending champion world #11 Richard Gasquet head a list of potential winners.

“I’m really looking forward to returning to the Thailand Open this year,” said Murray. “I’ve enjoyed some really good results in Bangkok in the past including my first ever final back in 2005 and winning the event in 2011.

The Thailand Open field will include three former champions of the event with popular Frenchman World #17 Gilles Simon joining Murray and Gasquet as former winners hoping to repeat their success.

To lift the King’s Cup trophy in 2013 the marquee names will need to battle past some stiff competition, however. Other players confirming their participation in the tournament include #25 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, Bangkok favourite and Thailand Open 2010 runner up Jarkko Nieminen of Finland currently ranked #39, plus Australian prodigy #42 Bernard Tomic.

The tournament will also feature a mini “Spanish Armada” led by world #23 Tommy Robredo and #27 Feliciano Lopez, with #58 Daniel Gimeno-Traver and #66 Roberto Bautista Agut. Robredo, a former World #5 has enjoyed an amazing comeback from injury in 2013. His ranking dropped as low as #471 last year but he is enjoying a banner year including titles in Umag and Casablanca. The Spaniard has won a total of 12 ATP World Tour singles titles and will be making his first ever appearance at the Thailand Open. The popular Lopez last played in Bangkok in 2007 and is enjoying a successful year including winning the Eastbourne title and a finals appearance in Memphis.

The newest member of the world’s Top 10 Raonic is looking forward to returning to Bangkok. “Last year was my first visit to Thailand and it was fantastic. Before the tournament I spent a week training on Koh Samui and the island was so beautiful and the people so friendly. The Thailand Open was well-organised and a lot of fun,” said Raonic ahead of his return.

Adding further strength to the field are #43 Czech Lukas Rosol who famously dumped Nadal out of Wimbledon last year, world #35 Ivan Dodig of Croatia, Marinko Matosevic of Australia ranked #56, Dutchman Robin Haase ranked #62, and #60 Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu who paired with Danai Udomchoke to lift the doubles trophy last year.

Thailand Open Executive Committee chairman Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop said that while the top seeds were amongst the very best in the world – four of the top 11 – no match would be easy.“Men’s tennis is so keenly contested; the top players cannot afford to let their concentration lapse in the early rounds. There are many extremely talented players competing this year,” he said. “There will be no easy matches.”

“There will be lots of top players competing so it will be exciting and I expect some tough matches,” said Youzhny, echoing Suwat’s comments.

In total, 13 countries are represented by players in the main draw of the tournament. Completing the international flavour of the event are world #63 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and #67 Lukasz Kubot of Poland, both making their first appearance at the tournament.

The Thailand Open singles main draw will feature 28 players – three wildcards will be announced before the event and an additional four players will enter the main draw via the tournament’s qualifying rounds.

The Thailand Open will be held from at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani. A number of brand new ticket promotions offer ticket buyers more value and options than ever before.

For all the details contact any Thaiticketmajor outlet, log on to www.thaiticketmajor.com or call 02 262 3838.

Malaysian Open, PTT Thailand Open named their marquee players

I'm all excited because the Malaysian Open has named Juan Monaco as one of the four marquee players for this year's tournament. The Argentinian who is a fresh face to the tournament just won the Hamburg title on Sunday and enters the top 10  for the first time today.

The other three marquee players are David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Meanwhile, PTT Thailand Open who will be celebrating its 10th anniversary has named their marquee players as well. They are Janko Tipsarevic, Gilles Simon, Fernando Verdasco, Richard Gasquet, Milos Raonic, Gael Monfils and Bernard Tomic.

(Images via Malaysian Open and PTT Thailand Open's Facebook fan pages)

Players' arrival photos in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur

As a big tennis fan and tennis mamarazzi, nothing beats welcoming my favourite players at the airport with a bunch of flowers :D

Unlike last year, this time I only got to know Rendy Lu Yen-hsun's flight schedule. Rendy arrived together with his mom, brother and his team.

Meanwhile in Bangkok, the organiser sent me some arrival photos of their star players - Juan Martin Del Potro, Ernests Gulbis, Fernando Verdasco and Jurgen Melzer (in sequence).

Yay, Del Potro is back in tournament!

(Images via PTT Thailand Open 2010, HSFoo of HCFoo's Tennis Blog)

You know you're blessed when you're Rafael Nadal

There's nothing more beautiful than seeing Rafael Nadal in the following photos - offering lotus flowers to the Buddhist monks at a beach in Prachuab Khirikhan province, south of Bangkok, Thailand.

Hope he'll be blessed with more meaningful success in the future.

(Images via Facebook)

Rafael Nadal finally lands in Thailand

It took Rafael Nadal more than three years to finally make it to Bangkok!

There's no perfect time than now - healthy, year-end no.1 and a with a Career Slam. Lucky Thai fans!

Nadal arrived in Hua Hin ahead of next week’s PTT Thailand Open which will be held from 25 September to 3 October at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok.

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Before he plays his first match in Bangkok, Nadal will participate in a tree-planting ceremony at Kasetsart University Veterinary Hospital in Hua Hin on Tuesday 28 September as part of PTT Group’s “One Million Trees for the King” anti-global warming project.

If you want to watch Nadal in action, tickets are available through all ThaiticketMajor outlets, Thai Post’s 52 Bangkok offices, Major and EGV outlets. For more information log on to www.thaiticketmajor.com or call 02 262 3838.

(Images sports.sina.com)

Congrats to new dad Gilles Simon

Gilles Simon has become a daddy for the first time!

His longtime girlfriend Carine Lauret gave birth to a boy on September 2 whom they named, Timothée.

The baby was born four weeks early and Simon missed his birth because he was competing in the US Open.

Simon did not enter the Thailand Open to defend his title as his son was supposed to due at end of September. I wonder if he will request for a wild card to play in Bangkok since he is the defending champion...

(Images via menstennisforums.com)

Weekend winners: Nikolay Davydenko, Gilles Simon, Maria Sharapova

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-5 to win the Malaysia Open on Sunday.

Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski took the doubles title after beating Igor Kunitsyn and Jaroslav Levinsky 6-2, 6-1.

In Bangkok, Gilles Simon won the Thailand Open after down Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-3 for his first ATP title of the year and sixth overall.

In the doubles final, Americans Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Mischa Zverev 7-6(4), 6-3.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Maria Sharapova won her first tournament since returning from a 10-month injury layoff when Jelena Jankovic retired because of an arm injury in the first set of the Toray Pan Pacific final.

Sharapova was up 5-2 at Ariake Colosseum when the seventh-seeded Serb took a timeout to have her right arm examined by the trainer. Jankovic returned to the court and lost the first two points of the eighth game before retiring.

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Simon, Ginepri, Isner go barefoot & shirtless for Muay Thai fun

I've been neglecting other tournaments lately to provide exclusive coverage on the Malaysian Open.

So here's a little bit of updates regarding the PTT Thailand Open.

Gilles Simon, Robby Ginepri and John Isner attended a promotional/traditional event for the tournament yesterday.

They did a Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) demonstration guided by Thai Olympian Somjit Jongjorhor.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did the same thing last year.

I hope the other guys take good care of Simon. He and his 'chicken legs' look too fragile for this sport :P

Here are more pictures at the event.

By the way, if you haven't know yet, Sam Querrey had a freak accident earlier this week while practicing for the Thailand Open.

Querrey was said to have sat on a glass table after practice on Monday and fell through, cutting his right forearm. The injury required immediate emergency surgery.

(Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal to miss Thailand Open for the third time

It's third time unlucky for the Thai fans.

The PTT Thailand Open announced in their website late yesterday that Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.

Rafael Nadal with team mates Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez at the Davis Cup semifinal last weekend.

This is the third time Nadal has pulled out from the tournament, the last two times were back in 2006 and 2007.

In the medical certificate provided to the tournament yesterday, Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro, Medical Services Chief for the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation said that Nadal was suffering from an acute rupture of his right abdominal muscle, which was confirmed by an ultrasound.

The doctor added that Nadal would require, “… medical treatment consisting of physiotherapy, rest, and medication …” for a period of two to three weeks.

Nadal expressed his disappointment at not being able to participate in the PTT Thailand Open.

"I am very disappointed not to be able to play in Bangkok."

"I was looking forward to this tournament but the injury I have been suffering during the North American summer swing needs to be taken care of."

"I am really looking forward to playing next year in Thailand where I have a very loyal and big fan base."

(Via PTT Thailand Open website)

Rafael Nadal set to play in Krabi (read: vacation) then Bangkok

Rafael Nadal attended Spain's Davis Cup tie against Israel to support his Spanish Armada's team mates yesterday.

Later he told television crews that he is recovering from his abdominal injury "little by little."

Despite his injury, Nadal is still scheduled to compete at the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok end of this month, with organisers saying the world no. 2 has confirmed his participation

Nadal is scheduled to arrive in Bangkok on September 23 for his Thailand Open debut.

Nadal will be heading to Krabi Island for retreat

However, he will fly to Krabi for a vacation before returning to Bangkok on September 29 (Tuesday).

At first I was tempted to go to Bangkok during that weekend but looking at his schedule, I decided to cancel the plan and concentrate on covering the PROTON Malaysian Open instead.

Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will arrive in the morning on September 26 (Saturday) and the draw will be made in the afternoon.

The PTT Thailand Open will be held at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani from September 26 to Oct 4.

While Nadal playing in Thailand, his team mates including Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez will be playing in the neighbouring country at the PROTON Malaysian Open during the same week.

(Via bangkokpost.com)

Royal treatment awaits Rafael Nadal in Bangkok

As you've already know, Rafael Nadal will be playing at the PTT Thailand Open this month.

The official hotel sponsor, Intercontinental Hotel, has opened the door and let fans take a glimpse of Nadal's luxurious Royal Suite Room.

Remember his face... Mr. Warachai, Nadal's butler

(via PTT Thailand Open website)

Thailand Open 2009: Entry list, Paradorn Srichaphan

Paradorn Srichaphan, Danai Udomchoke

PTT Thailand Open (formerly known as ATP Thailand Open) is scheduled to run on the same week as the Malaysian Open, between September 26-October 4, 2009.

The player entry list was released on the same day as the Malaysian Open and equally impressive too. Here you go:

1 Nadal, Rafael ESP 3
2 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried FRA 7
3 Simon, Gilles FRA 9
4 Querrey, Sam USA 26
5 Troicki, Viktor SRB 30
6 Sela, Dudi ISR 34
7 Melzer, Jurgen AUT 37
8 Petzschner, Philipp GER 39
9 Beck, Andreas GER 40
10 Santoro, Fabrice FRA 44
11 Zverev, Mischa GER 46
12 Becker, Benjamin GER 47
13 Nieminen, Jarkko FIN 52
14 Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo ESP 53
15 Benneteau, Julien FRA 55
16 Daniel, Marcos BRA 58
17 Isner, John USA 59
18 Safin, Marat RUS 61
19 Mayer, Leonardo ARG 65
20 (SE)
21 (SE)
22 (Q)
23 (Q)
24 (Q)
25 (Q)
26 (WC)
27 (WC)
28 (WC)

Alternates
1. Greul, Simon GER 66
2. Bellucci, Thomaz BRA 67
3. Ginepri, Robby USA 70
4. Hernych, Jan CZE 72
5. Koellerer, Daniel AUT 73
6. Lu, Yen-Hsun TPE 74
7. Crivoi, Victor ROU 75
8. Gabashvili, Teimuraz RUS 76
9. Zeballos, Horacio ARG 78
10. Luczak, Peter AUS 79
11. Kendrick, Robert USA 80
12. Korolev, Evgeny RUS 82
13. Srichaphan, Paradorn THA @82
14. Hernandez, Oscar ESP 84
15. Odesnik, Wayne USA 85

Is former world no.9 Paradorn Srichaphan ready to make a comeback since 2007?

Well, not quite so.

According to Srichaphan, he is not ready to make a comeback yet, but that doesn't mean he has effectively retired from tennis.

Married to former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, Srichaphan had spent his time away from the tour motorcycling, appearing on a Thai sports TV show and most recently opening an Italian cuisine restaurant.

(Via menstennisforums.com, AP)

Will Rafael Nadal miss Thailand Open for the 3rd time?

Rafael Nadal wonders if he will miss Thailand Open again this year.

Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand (LTAT) confirmed last week that Rafael Nadal will make his debut at the Thailand Open this September.

The sporting body said Nadal would be joined by reigning tournament champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga competing for the top prize of $608,500.

"I am very pleased to finally be able to come and compete at the PTT Thailand Open."

"I look forward to playing some great tennis for all the Thai fans," Nadal said in a press release.

LTAT president Suwat Lipatapanlop said he hoped Nadal's fame would help bring attention to the Thai competition and boost the country's ailing economy.

Nadal missed the tournament in 2006 and 2007 due to knee injury.

Hopefully he'll make it to the tournament this time.

The Thailand Open will be held from September 26 until October 4 in the suburbs of Bangkok.

Remaining players for the 32-player draw will be announced in the next couple of months, the LTAT said.

(Via AFP; Image by Ryan Pierse/ Getty Images)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga does a Thai version of Muhammad Ali

Finally we get to see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga doing something we all wanted to see! Yes it's boxing! Only that this is the Thai version. (Updates: Apparently Tsonga went into the boxing ring before back in May during the Hamburg Masters Series. Check out Lana's Great Tennis Photos.)

He was practicing during a Thai boxing demonstration to promote the ATP Thailand tennis Open 2008 in Bangkok.

Don't we all just love seeing the Muhammad Ali lookalike in shorts, half naked and delivering some punches here?

These photos are priceless!

Tsonga had a chance to learn some tips from Somluck Khamsing, a former Olympic boxing gold medalist. He even managed to land a left on the Olympian.

By the way Tsonga just defeated Lukas Dlouhy in the second round 7-6, 3-6, 7-6. Pretty nerve wreaking, huh?

(Images by PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Philipp Petzschner knocked out Marat Safin; can do kickboxing too

German tennis player Philipp Petzschner who beat Marat Safin in the first round at the Thailand Open 2008 was seen practicing Thai boxing during a Thai boxing demonstration to promote the ATP Tier II tournament in Bangkok today.


(Images by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images)