KUALA LUMPUR, 26 June (Bernama) — Malaysia has achieved a milestone in tennis when Kuala Lumpur won the right to host the prestigious ATP World Tour 250 for a period of five years from this year until 2013.
After a highly competitive bidding process against three other cities in Asia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Friday officially announced that the inaugural Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur would be held at the 16,000-capacity indoor Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Sept 26 till Oct 4.
“I am very pleased that Malaysia will be hosting the ATP World Tour 250 tournament which is an international event on par with the annual Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix,” he said at the launching of the tournament, here today.
Najib said the staging of the event could help to promote Malaysia as a tourism destination internationally and promote the sport and healthy lifestyle among Malaysians.
He hoped the tournament would inspire Malaysians and that one day Malaysia would produce a talented player who could win the men’s singles titles at this ATP World Tour event.
The ATP World Tour Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur, to be organised by IMG, a world leader in sports and lifestyle marketing, will carry a total prize money of USD947,750 (RM3,345,557).
Tournament director Nick Freyer, who is also IMG Senior Vice-President and Head of Tennis for Asia, confirmed the participation of seven prominent men’s singles tennis players to play at the Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur.
The seven men’s singles are world no. 8 Fernando Verdasco (Spain), Beijing Olympic silver medalist and world no. 10 Fernando Gonzales (Chile), world no. 11 Nikolay Davydenko (Russia), world no. 12 Robin Soderling (Sweden), world no. 14 Gael Monflis (France), world no. 21 David Ferrer (Spain), and Japanese teenage sensation Kei Nishikori.
Kuala Lumpur is the 64th tournament in the ATP calendar this year and the fifth city in Asia after Tokyo, Bangkok, Beijing and Shanghai, to host the world renowned tennis tournament.
Under the event’s format, the main draw will be from Sept 28 until Oct 4, with 28 players clashing out in the men’s singles and 16 pairs in the men’s doubles.
Source: BERNAMA
Meanwhile, in the men’s singles qualifying round on Sept 26 and 27, four slots will be allocated for top Malaysian players out of 32 players.
Also present at the launching was the Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, who is also the patron of the tournament.
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