Mark Smit
3 October 2008
Johannesburg — THE South African Tennis Association (Sata) yesterday said that two of the top players on the ATP men's professional tour have been signed up for the ATP South African Open in February.
It confirmed that the Montecasino gambling and entertainment complex, just north of Johannesburg, will host the event. The Open is returning to SA for the first time as a full ATP event since 1995, when the tournament had to be sold.
Charismatic Frenchman Joe-Wilfred Tsonga and Spanish top-10 star David Ferrer will be two of the top draw cards in the event.
Ferrer is ranked No5 in the world and Tsonga, who was out of action for a while after the Australia Open through injury, is ranked 15th. Both have confirmed that they will be playing.
The 26-year-old Ferrer has the reputation of being one of the fastest players on the tour, and one of the most tenacious. This year he won titles in s-Hertogenbosch and his home town of Valencia; he made the final in Barcelona, the semifinals in Bastad and the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo, Auckland, the Australian Open, Dubai and Roland Garros.
Tsonga's breakthrough came at this year's Australian Open where he took out Andy Murray in the opening round, Richard Gasquet in the fourth round, Mikael Youzhny in the quarterfinals and world No1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, before losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
However, he avenged that defeat last Sunday by beating Djokovic 7-6 6-4 in the final of the ATP Tournament in Bangkok.
Tsonga's progress to the final of the Australian Open was one of the fairytale stories of the year in tennis, and his remarkable resemblance to the great Muhammad Ali, who took world boxing by storm in the 1960s and 1970s, caught the tennis world's imagination. He is undoubtedly one of the most charismatic players active on the tour.
Sata CEO and tournament director Ian Smith said yesterday, when he announced the coup: "South Africa has always had a proud tennis tradition and years ago the South African Open was considered to be one of the highlights of the world tennis calendar. This is just the start.
"We already have some top players keen to come to SA and Sata remains committed to growing this event each year.
"Brad Drewett, the CEO of the ATP Tour's International Region, said the Tour was delighted to be back in SA. The return of men's professional tennis to SA epitomises the global nature of the ATP World Tour and it is great to see that SA's passionate sports fans will have the opportunity to see live world-class tennis in 2009."
Tsonga said he was "really looking forward" to playing in Johannesburg next year. "The African continent is very close to my heart and I can't wait to entertain everyone during ... (the) Open," Tsonga said .
Montecasino will build four courts specifically for the tournament, two of which will be show courts with a seating capacity for 6000 tennis fans.
Steve Howell, GM of Montecasino, said he looked forward to the SA Open "becoming a regular feature".
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