DESPITE the absence of a title sponsor for the ATP Malaysian Open for the second year running, the tournament, which starts today with the qualifiers, will still see some of the world's best tennis players competing in Kuala Lumpur.
Spain's World No 5 David Ferrer, Argentina's Juan Monaco, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Russia's former champion Nikolay Davydenko (picture) are among the confirmed entries. On the local front, national No 1 Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam was wearing a big smile yesterday after being told he will play in the men's singles main draw.
The 19-year-old was initially entered as a wild card for the qualifying competition but his fortunes changed after Brian Baker of the United States was upgraded as a ranked player.
Ariez will now have the distinction of being only the second player after Si Yew Ming in 2010 to play in the singles main draw. The first round starts on Monday at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Ariez hopes to do better in his third appearance at the Malaysian Open. "I did not expect this ... I will, however, make use of it to gauge myself against higher ranked opponents. I need to be positive and optimistic ahead of my first round match," said Ariez.
Ariez said the experience in the previous editions has made him a better player. "I need to continue learning to improve. I give myself another four or five years to make a grade in the sport," he added.
Yew Ming, Ahmad Deedat Abd Razak and debutants Syed Agil Syed Naguib and Assri Merzuki are the other Malaysians in the singles qualifying round which starts today. Yew Ming will partner Taiwan's World No 344 Jimmy Wang in the doubles main draw.
With this being his fourth appearance, Yew Ming's ability to apply what he has learnt from his past experiences in the tournament will be the key as he strives for that elusive first win at tour level.
As for Assri, the Florida-based player who won an ITF Futures doubles title last year, wants to learn from the best.
On the issue of a title sponsor, the tournament, which had Proton as the main sponsor in 2009 and 2010, will be without one for the second straight year.
With the tournament's five-year deal with ATP ending next year, the lack of interest from sponsors will definitely affect the future of the event.
