A total cash prize of RM9,450 will be offered in the Selangor Closed Tennis Championships at the MBPJ and PKNS Sports Centres on Sept 17-18 and 24-25.
The annual championships, organised by the Selangor Tennis Association (STA), is sponsored by LD Sports Sdn Bhd.
STA honorary secretary Tengku Mohamed Tengku Harun said the championships would be an ideal opportunity to identify new talent.
“This year’s tournament will signal our tie-up with new sponsors LD Sports. We are targeting about 120 participants this year,” said Tengku Mohamed.
Among the previous winners were present and former national players — Si Yew Meng, V.Selvam and Adam Jaya.
The championships has four categories - Men's Open, Women's Open, Men's Masters (35 and above) and Men's senior (45 and above) - for singles and doubles.
The entry fee per participant is RM50 and the entry deadline is on Sept 9.
The top four finishers in each category will receive cash prizes.
For details, call Tengku Mohamed at 012-3986 914 or 03- 7958 4221. Information is also available at www.selangortennis.org.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Yew Ming gets Harrison as partner
Si Yew Ming will play doubles with Ryan Harrison (picture) of the United States in this year's Malaysian Open on Sept 24-Oct 2 at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Tournament director Nick Freyer said the pair have been granted a wild card into the doubles main draw.
It will be Yew Ming's third main draw appearance since the tournament's inception in 2009.
Yew Ming partnered Sweden's Joachim Johansson in the inaugural tournament but lost in their first match and in the following year, he was beaten by India's Yuki Bhambri in the singles first round.
The 32-year-old again earned a wild card this year after proving himself in the National Tour, where he dominated all four legs.
Yew Ming was also Malaysia's best player in the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup Group Three in Sri Lanka in July and going by his form, he is expected to produce a strong showing in the Malaysian Open.
He will also play in the singles qualifying round alongside Kuching-born Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam.
World No 9 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and World No 11 Spaniard Nicolas Almagro are the competition's two top draws.
Others in the fray are Russia's defending champion Mikhail Youzhny and former champion Nikolay Davydenko along with Canada's Milos Raonic, Austria's Jurgen Melzer, Japan's Kei Nishikori and Serbian duo Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic.
Tickets for the event are available at www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com or www.Ticketpro.com.my.-NST
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Malaysian Open - Entry List
Malaysian Open 2011
Main Draw
1 BERDYCH Tomas CZE 9
2 ALMAGRO Nicolas ESP 11
3 TROICKI Viktor SRB 16
4 YOUZHNY Mikhail RUS 17
5 MELZER Jurgen AUT 18
6 TIPSAREVIC Janko SRB 20
7 RAONIC Milos CAN 28
8 DAVYDENKO Nikolay RUS 31
9 TURSUNOV Dmitry RUS 44
10 CUEVAS Pablo URU 49
11 BOGOMOLOV Jr Alex USA 50
12 NISHIKORI Kei JPN 52
13 KUBOT Lukasz POL 58
14 TOMIC Bernard AUS 61
15 KUKUSHKIN Mikhail KAZ 62
16 DEVVARMAN Somdev IND 63
17 PETZSCHNER Philipp GER 64
18 ROSOL Lucas CZE 65
19 ISTOMIN Denis UZB 68
Alternates
1 SWEETING Ryan USA 69
2 RAMOS Albert ESP 71
3 HARRISON Ryan USA 78
4 BACHINGER Matthias GER 85
5 YOUNG Donald USA 89
6 SOUZA Joao BRA 90
7 KAMKE Tobias GER 91
8 SELA Dudi ISR 92
9 RUSSEL Michael USA 93
10 CAPDEVILLE Paul CHI 98
11 JUNQUEIRA Diego ARG 99
12 CIPOLA Flavio ITA 107
13 ROBERT Stephane FRA 108
14 ILHAN Marsel TUR 109
15 PAIRE Benoit FRA 110
16 ZVEREV Mischa GER 116
17 REYNOLDS Bobby USA 120
18 KENDRICK Robert USA 121
19 ZEMLJA Grega SLO 122
20 SOEDA Go JPN 123
21 BROWN Dustin GER 124
22 SCHUETTLER Rainer GER 125
23 De VOEST Rik RSA 126
24 POSPISIL Jaroslav CZE 127
25 ITO Tatsuma JPN 128
26 GABASHVILI Teymuraz RUS 129
27 GINERPI Robby USA 129
28 ebden Matthew AUS 130
29 Van der MERWE Izak RSA 131
30 SERRRA Florent FRA 132
31 PHAU Bjorn GER 133
32 De SCHEPPER Kenny FRA 134
Main Draw
1 BERDYCH Tomas CZE 9
2 ALMAGRO Nicolas ESP 11
3 TROICKI Viktor SRB 16
4 YOUZHNY Mikhail RUS 17
5 MELZER Jurgen AUT 18
6 TIPSAREVIC Janko SRB 20
7 RAONIC Milos CAN 28
8 DAVYDENKO Nikolay RUS 31
9 TURSUNOV Dmitry RUS 44
10 CUEVAS Pablo URU 49
11 BOGOMOLOV Jr Alex USA 50
12 NISHIKORI Kei JPN 52
13 KUBOT Lukasz POL 58
14 TOMIC Bernard AUS 61
15 KUKUSHKIN Mikhail KAZ 62
16 DEVVARMAN Somdev IND 63
17 PETZSCHNER Philipp GER 64
18 ROSOL Lucas CZE 65
19 ISTOMIN Denis UZB 68
Alternates
1 SWEETING Ryan USA 69
2 RAMOS Albert ESP 71
3 HARRISON Ryan USA 78
4 BACHINGER Matthias GER 85
5 YOUNG Donald USA 89
6 SOUZA Joao BRA 90
7 KAMKE Tobias GER 91
8 SELA Dudi ISR 92
9 RUSSEL Michael USA 93
10 CAPDEVILLE Paul CHI 98
11 JUNQUEIRA Diego ARG 99
12 CIPOLA Flavio ITA 107
13 ROBERT Stephane FRA 108
14 ILHAN Marsel TUR 109
15 PAIRE Benoit FRA 110
16 ZVEREV Mischa GER 116
17 REYNOLDS Bobby USA 120
18 KENDRICK Robert USA 121
19 ZEMLJA Grega SLO 122
20 SOEDA Go JPN 123
21 BROWN Dustin GER 124
22 SCHUETTLER Rainer GER 125
23 De VOEST Rik RSA 126
24 POSPISIL Jaroslav CZE 127
25 ITO Tatsuma JPN 128
26 GABASHVILI Teymuraz RUS 129
27 GINERPI Robby USA 129
28 ebden Matthew AUS 130
29 Van der MERWE Izak RSA 131
30 SERRRA Florent FRA 132
31 PHAU Bjorn GER 133
32 De SCHEPPER Kenny FRA 134
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Tomas Berdych joins star-studded list
The countdown to the third edition of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur is well and truly underway with the official release of the full ATP World Tour entry list and event visual - and it is a fantastic line up of players heading to Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, September 24 to October 2, 2011.
Leading an impressively strong field which sees a cut-off at #68, is the 2010 Wimbledon finalist and World No.9 Tomas Berdych and close behind him is the Spanish Davis Cup player and KL debutant and World No.11, Nicolas Almagro. Berdych has had an incredibly consistent season so far. The Czech has reached the quarter-finals or better at 12 of the 16 events he has played, whilst Almagro is having his best season ever.
There are a total of six players ranked in the world’s top-20 heading to Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 will play host to singles players from more than 15 different nations, with Russians numbering the most at three, followed by the Czechs and Serbs with two each.
“The cross-section of nations makes things incredibly exciting for the tournament because it allows word of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur to cross the continents from Asia to Australia and from Europe to the Americas,” Tournament Director Nick Freyer, of organisers IMG, said. “I believe we are poised to see the best ever Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur unfold as such a variety of personalities will have fans enthralled with their unique styles and brands of tennis.”
“The entire tournament is delighted to welcome to KL such a nice mix of fresh faces and old friends. Additionally, there is a wonderful blend of established names and future marquee names that are readily nipping at the heels of those at the highest echelons of the ATP World Tour rankings.”
Between them the players in the line-up for the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 have won a total of 37 career titles including the season-ending Championship, the ATP World Tour Finals, and appeared in a total of 40 career finals including a Grand Slam.
Berdych remains one of the most consistent players on the Tour. The 25 year old is constantly featuring in the business end of tournaments. His great power and reach will be right at home on centre court at Putra Stadium. To prove his consistency, this year Berdych, who has career earnings of over $8.5million, has reached the semis in Bastad, Halle, Nice, Dubai and Chennai and he made the quarters at another seven events including the Australian Open and Masters 1000 events in Montreal, Rome, Madrid and Miami.
“It’s great to have been so consistent as I wanted to do that before the season started,’ Berdych said. “I’m looking forward to trying to go further the rest of the year, but so far, the season has been solid.”
Meanwhile, Almagro, nicknamed “Nico”, is enjoying the best year of his career having won three titles, in Nice, Buenos Aires and Costa do Sauipe and reaching the finals in Hamburg and Acapulco. He was also a semi-finalist four times and made the quarters of the Masters 1000 in Montreal last week. This year Almagro, with his glorious single-handed backhand, also became the 25th Spaniard to crack the world’s top-10 and has already banked in excess of $1million in prize money for 2011.
“The only thing that I want is to be at peace with my tennis,” Almagro said. “The only thing I want is to keep on working; working like I am doing and for sure the results are going to keep on coming.”
Stars like Berdych, 2009 winner Nikolay Davydenko and defending champion Mikhail Youzhny have developed quite a following in Kuala Lumpur, but they will be challenged by an incredibly exciting band of young players who have made stunning forays on the world rankings in 2011.
The Australian Bernard Tomic will draw plenty of attention in KL. His amazing run at Wimbledon that saw him reach the quarter-finals from the qualifying rounds, made tennis observers around the world sit up and take note. Then there is the other teenager Ryan Harrison from the USA, who will gain entry into the tournament via a wild card if required, and who is being touted as the next big thing in American tennis. Many feel these two youngsters will develop quite a rivalry in the future and the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 could well provide an early glimpse of that.
Joining them will be the explosive game of Canadian Milos Raonic, winner of the San Jose title in 2011, who possesses one of the fastest serves in the world. Raonic made his breakthrough last year in Kuala Lumpur where he came through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals. The 20 year old from Ontario is thrilling to watch in full flight. His form this year has been so impressive that his ranking went from 156 at the start of the season to a career high of 25. Recently recovered from a hip injury that required surgery, he will be looking to continue his run of fine form that began last year in Malaysia.
Asian tennis is well represented with Japan’s Kei Nishikori and India’s Somdev Devvarman who have both made impressive strides in 2011, while Malaysia’s #1 Si Yew Ming will certainly have the local tennis community abuzz when he plays doubles with Ryan Harrison. The pair has been granted a wild-card into the main draw of the doubles.
The tournament is very happy to lay out the first-time welcome mat for the Austrian lefthander and Grand Slam doubles Champion and singles semi-finalist Jurgen Melzer, as well as two very colourful personalities in Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic, heroes of the victorious Serbian Davis Cup team.
Leading an impressively strong field which sees a cut-off at #68, is the 2010 Wimbledon finalist and World No.9 Tomas Berdych and close behind him is the Spanish Davis Cup player and KL debutant and World No.11, Nicolas Almagro. Berdych has had an incredibly consistent season so far. The Czech has reached the quarter-finals or better at 12 of the 16 events he has played, whilst Almagro is having his best season ever.
There are a total of six players ranked in the world’s top-20 heading to Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 will play host to singles players from more than 15 different nations, with Russians numbering the most at three, followed by the Czechs and Serbs with two each.
“The cross-section of nations makes things incredibly exciting for the tournament because it allows word of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur to cross the continents from Asia to Australia and from Europe to the Americas,” Tournament Director Nick Freyer, of organisers IMG, said. “I believe we are poised to see the best ever Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur unfold as such a variety of personalities will have fans enthralled with their unique styles and brands of tennis.”
“The entire tournament is delighted to welcome to KL such a nice mix of fresh faces and old friends. Additionally, there is a wonderful blend of established names and future marquee names that are readily nipping at the heels of those at the highest echelons of the ATP World Tour rankings.”
Between them the players in the line-up for the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 have won a total of 37 career titles including the season-ending Championship, the ATP World Tour Finals, and appeared in a total of 40 career finals including a Grand Slam.
Berdych remains one of the most consistent players on the Tour. The 25 year old is constantly featuring in the business end of tournaments. His great power and reach will be right at home on centre court at Putra Stadium. To prove his consistency, this year Berdych, who has career earnings of over $8.5million, has reached the semis in Bastad, Halle, Nice, Dubai and Chennai and he made the quarters at another seven events including the Australian Open and Masters 1000 events in Montreal, Rome, Madrid and Miami.
“It’s great to have been so consistent as I wanted to do that before the season started,’ Berdych said. “I’m looking forward to trying to go further the rest of the year, but so far, the season has been solid.”
Meanwhile, Almagro, nicknamed “Nico”, is enjoying the best year of his career having won three titles, in Nice, Buenos Aires and Costa do Sauipe and reaching the finals in Hamburg and Acapulco. He was also a semi-finalist four times and made the quarters of the Masters 1000 in Montreal last week. This year Almagro, with his glorious single-handed backhand, also became the 25th Spaniard to crack the world’s top-10 and has already banked in excess of $1million in prize money for 2011.
“The only thing that I want is to be at peace with my tennis,” Almagro said. “The only thing I want is to keep on working; working like I am doing and for sure the results are going to keep on coming.”
Stars like Berdych, 2009 winner Nikolay Davydenko and defending champion Mikhail Youzhny have developed quite a following in Kuala Lumpur, but they will be challenged by an incredibly exciting band of young players who have made stunning forays on the world rankings in 2011.
The Australian Bernard Tomic will draw plenty of attention in KL. His amazing run at Wimbledon that saw him reach the quarter-finals from the qualifying rounds, made tennis observers around the world sit up and take note. Then there is the other teenager Ryan Harrison from the USA, who will gain entry into the tournament via a wild card if required, and who is being touted as the next big thing in American tennis. Many feel these two youngsters will develop quite a rivalry in the future and the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011 could well provide an early glimpse of that.
Joining them will be the explosive game of Canadian Milos Raonic, winner of the San Jose title in 2011, who possesses one of the fastest serves in the world. Raonic made his breakthrough last year in Kuala Lumpur where he came through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals. The 20 year old from Ontario is thrilling to watch in full flight. His form this year has been so impressive that his ranking went from 156 at the start of the season to a career high of 25. Recently recovered from a hip injury that required surgery, he will be looking to continue his run of fine form that began last year in Malaysia.
Asian tennis is well represented with Japan’s Kei Nishikori and India’s Somdev Devvarman who have both made impressive strides in 2011, while Malaysia’s #1 Si Yew Ming will certainly have the local tennis community abuzz when he plays doubles with Ryan Harrison. The pair has been granted a wild-card into the main draw of the doubles.
The tournament is very happy to lay out the first-time welcome mat for the Austrian lefthander and Grand Slam doubles Champion and singles semi-finalist Jurgen Melzer, as well as two very colourful personalities in Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic, heroes of the victorious Serbian Davis Cup team.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Jawairiah for Sea Games
Jawairiah Noordin has accepted an invitation from the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) to play in the Indonesia Sea Games on November 11-22.
If Jawairiah plays, it will be her first appearance since last year’s Asia/Oceania Zone Fed Cup Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur.
Her inclusion will boost the team’s chances of emulating their bronze medal effort from Laos, two years ago, in Indonesia.
The 21-year-old, the undisputed national No 1, also hopes to re-launch her tennis career on the WTA Tour.
She was once among the top 950 players in the world but she disappeared from the international scene two years ago.
Other players nominated for the Sea Games are the Boey siblings, Adelle and Alyssa along with S. Theiviya, the daughter of former national coach Selvarajoo, for the Sea Games.
Si Yew Meng will led the men’s team, also comprise Ariez Elyaas, the son of current national coach Deen Heshaam Tan Abdullah, Assri Merzuki and Ahmad Deedat Abd Razak.
Monday, 1 August 2011
The Russians are coming back
He won the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur in its inaugural year, and he won the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur in its second year… and now they are both coming back to try and keep the title in Russian hands.
Tournament Director Nick Freyer of organizers IMG, today announced that the 2009 Champion Nikolay Davydenko and the 2010 Champion Mikhail Youzhny will be returning to Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, 24 September to 2 October, 2011. They will take on the already announced ATP World Tour stars that include Serbian Davis Cup hero’s Viktor Troicki (#15) and Janko Tipsarevic (#25), two-time Wimbledon doubles Champion Jurgen Melzer (#18), and fast rising Australian teenager and 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, Bernard Tomic.
“A tournament always feels touched when past Champions decide to return, and of course we are delighted that both “Niko” and “Misha” are coming back to KL,” Freyer said. “This is a place where I know they feel very comfortable and where we enjoy having them as our guests – they are firm favorites with the tournament staff.”
“Malaysian fans will I am sure welcome back their past Champions, both of whom are gentlemen, with a sense of humor and who have achieved so much. It is entirely possible, either player, or maybe even both, will be seen in action on Sunday October 2, finals day.”
Davydenko, a 21 time winner on the ATP World Tour and a 6 time finalist, and who plays more tournaments than almost anyone else, remains one of the toughest players in the world. The 30 year old is a crafty opponent with outstanding endurance and determination – he is a very difficult player to beat at any time and on any surface.
He has been ranked at a career high of #3 in the world and has beaten all of the best players. Now ranked #30 because a number of injury bouts kept him off the tour last year, he is still just as determined every time he walks out on court. This year he won the title in
www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com
Munich which was his 21st career title, and he reached the final in Dubai, his 27th career final, defeating Rafael Nadal en route.
“Any player who does well at a tournament likes to go back to that tournament,” Davydenko said. “There must be reason you do well there so you like to get that reason back. I feel this in Kuala Lumpur. Everybody was very nice there. I like the hotel (the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur) very much, my wife likes the shopping mall next door very much - this is why I had to win the tournament.”
This will be his third straight year at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur. The 2009 season-ending ATP World Tour Finals and Shanghai Masters 1000 Champion, has won titles in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Youzhny meanwhile is an incredibly fit individual, and tennis fans have come to expect him to do his trade-mark salute whenever he wins a match. Last year at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, then ranked in the world’s top-ten, he was happy to oblige four times (def. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Marcos Baghdatis, Igor Andreev and Andrey Golubev in a brilliant three-set final) as he put his racquet on his head and with his other hand saluted to the different sections of the crowd. He did double duty last year and also reached the semi-finals of the doubles with partner Sergiy Stakhovsky.
The 29 year old Muscovite is currently ranked #14 and is close to his career high ranking of #8. He has won 7 career singles titles and 8 career doubles titles and has reached 10 other singles finals. In 2011 he has made the semis of Gstaad last weekend, Hamburg and Marseille where he beat Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in back-to-back matches. He was also a quarter-finalist at Rotterdam and made the last 16 at Wimbledon.
“I am looking forward to coming back to Kuala Lumpur because I have good time there last year and everyone, they look after me so nicely,” Youzhny said from Switzerland where he was playing last weekend. The stadium was very good to play in and the people were nice and the buildings in the city are amazing. The two buildings with the bridge (the famous Petronas Towers) are incredible. I had not been to Malaysia before so did not know what to expect – and was very nicely surprised.”
For more information and updates on the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011, please log on to www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com
Tournament Director Nick Freyer of organizers IMG, today announced that the 2009 Champion Nikolay Davydenko and the 2010 Champion Mikhail Youzhny will be returning to Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, 24 September to 2 October, 2011. They will take on the already announced ATP World Tour stars that include Serbian Davis Cup hero’s Viktor Troicki (#15) and Janko Tipsarevic (#25), two-time Wimbledon doubles Champion Jurgen Melzer (#18), and fast rising Australian teenager and 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, Bernard Tomic.
“A tournament always feels touched when past Champions decide to return, and of course we are delighted that both “Niko” and “Misha” are coming back to KL,” Freyer said. “This is a place where I know they feel very comfortable and where we enjoy having them as our guests – they are firm favorites with the tournament staff.”
“Malaysian fans will I am sure welcome back their past Champions, both of whom are gentlemen, with a sense of humor and who have achieved so much. It is entirely possible, either player, or maybe even both, will be seen in action on Sunday October 2, finals day.”
Davydenko, a 21 time winner on the ATP World Tour and a 6 time finalist, and who plays more tournaments than almost anyone else, remains one of the toughest players in the world. The 30 year old is a crafty opponent with outstanding endurance and determination – he is a very difficult player to beat at any time and on any surface.
He has been ranked at a career high of #3 in the world and has beaten all of the best players. Now ranked #30 because a number of injury bouts kept him off the tour last year, he is still just as determined every time he walks out on court. This year he won the title in
www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com
Munich which was his 21st career title, and he reached the final in Dubai, his 27th career final, defeating Rafael Nadal en route.
“Any player who does well at a tournament likes to go back to that tournament,” Davydenko said. “There must be reason you do well there so you like to get that reason back. I feel this in Kuala Lumpur. Everybody was very nice there. I like the hotel (the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur) very much, my wife likes the shopping mall next door very much - this is why I had to win the tournament.”
This will be his third straight year at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur. The 2009 season-ending ATP World Tour Finals and Shanghai Masters 1000 Champion, has won titles in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Youzhny meanwhile is an incredibly fit individual, and tennis fans have come to expect him to do his trade-mark salute whenever he wins a match. Last year at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, then ranked in the world’s top-ten, he was happy to oblige four times (def. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Marcos Baghdatis, Igor Andreev and Andrey Golubev in a brilliant three-set final) as he put his racquet on his head and with his other hand saluted to the different sections of the crowd. He did double duty last year and also reached the semi-finals of the doubles with partner Sergiy Stakhovsky.
The 29 year old Muscovite is currently ranked #14 and is close to his career high ranking of #8. He has won 7 career singles titles and 8 career doubles titles and has reached 10 other singles finals. In 2011 he has made the semis of Gstaad last weekend, Hamburg and Marseille where he beat Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in back-to-back matches. He was also a quarter-finalist at Rotterdam and made the last 16 at Wimbledon.
“I am looking forward to coming back to Kuala Lumpur because I have good time there last year and everyone, they look after me so nicely,” Youzhny said from Switzerland where he was playing last weekend. The stadium was very good to play in and the people were nice and the buildings in the city are amazing. The two buildings with the bridge (the famous Petronas Towers) are incredible. I had not been to Malaysia before so did not know what to expect – and was very nicely surprised.”
For more information and updates on the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2011, please log on to www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)