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)

CONTEST: Malaysian Open goodies giveaway coming soon!

Did you guys remember I take home some goodies at the Malaysian Open media briefings?

I've decided to share it with you guys. These are the things that I'm going to giveaway:

Australian Open "mini tennis ball" keychain x 1
Malaysian Open notebook x 1
Official Guide To Pro Tennis x 1
and more...

Nah, not the huge Malaysian Open tennis ball as I've given it away to a friend.

Esther has "unofficially" won 2 Gold tickets to the final at the Malaysian Open because she was quicker than me in posting the correct answer on the Malaysian Open Facebook page. Or else I could giveaway the tickets here.

Instead I'm going to offer the Australian Open keychain to you guys, although I loved it so much...

So, do come back for this contest as I'll be posting the details this Sunday night.

P.S. This contest is open to all countries in the Asia Pacific only. Sorry to friends in other continents. I'll organise a different contest to you guys next time.

TENNIS WATCH: US Open wildcards, Serena Williams can't kick shopping habit

The U.S. Open men's and womens' wildcard recipients are out.

In the men's singles main draw, wildcards go to Devin Britton, Chase Buchanan, Taylor Dent, Brendan Evans, Jesse Levine, Rajeev Ram, and Chris Guccione, with the French reciprocal wildcard still to be announced.

Qualifying wildcards go to Lester Cook, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Domijan, Ryan Harrison, Scoville Jenkins, Ryan Lipman, Tim Smyczek, Blake Strode, and Michael Venus.

In the womens' singles main draw, wildcards go to Gail Brodksy, Mallory Cecil, Kim Clijsters, Alexa Glatch, Vania King, Christina McHale, Kristina Mladenovic and Olivia Rogowska.

Qualifying wildcards go to Kristie Ahn, Lauren Embree, Irina Falconi, Nicole Gibbs, Asia Muhammad, Alison Riske, Laura Robson, Sloane Stephens and Coco Vandeweghe.

*******

Venus and Serena will join celebrities like Gloria and Emilio Estefan and Marc Anthony as stakeholders in the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins are scheduled to officially announce the William sisters investment coming this Tuesday, reports AP.

During the earlier part of her career, Serena Williams has dated two NFL players before.

(Via tennis.com)

VIDEO: Malaysian Open Tennis promo video, sponsors

Today I was at the Malaysian Open media briefing again.

This time around, the Tournament Director, Nick Freyer not only unveiled the tournament promo video, he also announced new and strategic associations with three major international companies.

Junji S. the Sales Director of CNN, SEA, Nick Freyer the Tournament Director and Giri the winner of "Best Job in Malaysia".

Malaysian Open welcomed CNN as the Official Sponsor and International Media Partner.

During the tournament, the sponsor will be showcasing CNN and the CNN World Sport products at the entertainment village and via player computer terminals.

Meanwhile TennisWeek.com, one of the world's most viewed tennis websites and Tecnifibre, the "Official Stringer" also come in to further strengthen the tournament.

During the event, the Tournament Director also announced the winner of "The Best Job in Malaysia" competition which went to 25-year-old Giritharan Sithambarnathan from Perak.

To read my tweets regarding the event, click here.

(Via IMG/Malaysian Open Tennis)