Medibank International Sydney Tennis - Australian Open Series

World-class field expected

Thursday 16 October 2008 Comments

Some of the biggest stars in world tennis are set to appear on Sydney’s Biggest Stage in January for the Medibank International Sydney 2009.

Tournament Director Craig Watson today announced one of the strongest and most exciting line-ups in the event’s history, led by the top three ranked women in the world, No.1 Jelena Jankovic, No.2 Dinara Safina, and No.3 Serena Williams.

Players confirmed in the men’s draw include world No.7 David Nalbandian, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Aussie favourite Lleyton Hewitt.

“We not only have the top-three ranked women, we also have the Beijing gold-medallist,” Watson said.

Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) – World No.1, winner at Rome, Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow, finalist at US Open, Miami.

Dinara Safina (Russia) – World No.2, winner at Berlin, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Tokyo, finalist at French Open, Olympic silver medallist.

Serena Williams (USA) – World No.3, US Open Champion, winner at Bangalore, Miami and Charleston, finalist at Wimbledon.

Elena Dementieva (Russia) – World No.5, Olympic Gold medallist, winner at Dubai, finalist at Berlin, Istanbul.

“This is the second year running that we are hosting all three of the world’s leading female players,” Watson said. “It highlights the importance of this tournament and the fact that they like playing in Sydney.

“The fans get the best of both worlds because the Medibank International Sydney is a combined men’s and women’s event. There are only a handful of opportunities through the year where the men and women play side-by-side and Sydney is one of those opportunities.”

Watson also announced some top male players already confirmed for January.

Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) – World No. 1 for 80 weeks, winner of Wimbledon, US Open and four-time Medibank International Sydney champion.

David Nalbandian (Argentina) – World No.7, winner at Buenos Aires and Stockholm, finalist at Acapulco, led Argentina to 2008 Davis Cup final, semis at Queen’s, quarters at Monte Carlo.

Richard Gasquet (France) – World No.14, finalist at Stuttgart, semis at Tokyo, Bucharest, quarters at Toronto, Beijing, Queen’s, defending Medibank International Sydney Doubles Champion.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) – World No.15, winner at Bangkok (def. Djokovic), finalist at Australian Open (def. Nadal), semis at Adelaide, Casablanca, defending Medibank International Sydney Doubles Champion.

Tommy Robredo (Spain) – World No.19, winner at Bastad, finalist at Warsaw, semis at Valencia, quarters at Beijing, Tokyo and Barcelona.

“Over the coming months, as we count down to the Medibank International Sydney, we look forward to announcing more great players as part of the line-up. We expect 2009 to be the biggest and best Tournament we have staged,”  Watson stated.

Tags: Craig Watson, David Nalbandian, Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lleyton Hewitt, Richard Gasquet, Serena Williams, Tommy Robredo

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