Tennis Prose




Jan/13

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Delray Beach 2013 Player List

Four Top 20 players and five former champions highlight the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships (ITC) acceptance list of ATP World Tour stars that was released today. The 21st annual tournament will be played February 22 – March 3 at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center located just a couple of miles off of Interstate 95.

The ATP’s Top 20 contingent in the ITC includes John Isner (No. 13), Marin Cilic (No. 14), Kei Nishikori (No. 18) and Alexandr Dolgopolov (No. 20), as well as former champions Kevin Anderson (2012), Mardy Fish (2009), Tommy Haas (2006) and Xavier Malisse (2005 & 2007). Nishikori was the 2008 ITC winner.

The list also confirms the first-ever appearance by former ATP world No. 7 Gael Monfils, who is playing his way back from a knee injury that sidelined him for three and a half months during the 2012 season.

Monfils, 26, has won four ATP titles and has three late-round Grand Slam finishes to his credit. He reached the 2008 French Open semifinals as well as the quarterfinal rounds of the 2009 French Open and the 2010 US Open. In 2011, the Frenchman was ranked in the Top 10 for 32 straight weeks.

Online wagering on professional tennis for the ITC, is available at www.Bovada.lv on where you can also bet on “March Madness” I just heard many people have already started to make their own brackets.

For more information about Gael Monfils and other ATP players, go to www.ATPWorldTour.com
“Four Top 20s definitely makes it a great ticket for the fans,” says ITC tournament director Mark Baron. “And we are more than thrilled to have Gael Monfils in our event. He’s a legitimate Top 10 player who has to be considered one of the favorites to win our title.”

The No. 20 Dolgopolov is also making his first appearance in the Delray Beach field. The 24-year-old Kiev, Ukraine resident won two ATP titles over the last two seasons, and reached No. 13 in the world last year. He was an Australian Open quarterfinalist in 2011.

Feliciano Lopez is another newcomer to the ITC; Lopez reached No. 15 in the world in 2011 and helped Spain win the 2008 and 2009 Davis Cup titles.

Fans shouldn’t count out two players just outside the Top 20: world No. 21 Haas and No. 27 Fish, who took a medical sabbatical from tennis after reaching the fourth round of the US Open in September. The 34-year-old Haas made a successful comeback from injury for the third time in his career, returning the Top 20 in 2012 while the 31-year-old Fish spent most of the last two years in the Top 10.

Marinko Matosesvic, the 2012 ITC runner-up to Anderson, is also returning to the ITC. The Australian was a surprise finalist after coming out of the qualifying rounds, and has improved his ranking to No. 48 in the world. Anderson is currently ranked No. 36 and will be in the mix to defend his title.

In addition to Isner and Fish, 20-year-old Ryan Harrison rounds out the American trio in the 32-player field. Isner looks to be the overall top seed in Delray Beach, but Baron is still holding three wild cards if other top-ranked players become available.

Boca Raton resident Jesse Levine of Canada, who took out former Top 10 Tommy Robredo in the first round of the Australian Open this week, is the first alternate for the ATP World Tour event.

The world No. 1 Bryan Brothers will highlight the doubles field at the ITC’s ATP World Tour event, while John McEnroe leads a group of six players in the ATP Champions Tour matches on the event’s opening weekend (Feb. 22 – 24).

Individual tickets for the event range in price from $24 – $39 for grandstand seats, $42 – $60 for reserved seating, $75 – $90 for box seats and $165 – $249 for Best Seats In The House (courtside). Ticket packages for the entire 10-day event or for multiple sessions are also available.

A 33%-off ticket promotion is in effect until February 17 where fans can purchase any ATP Champions Tour ticket and receive 33% off a ATP World Tour ticket. Likewise, the purchase of an ATP World Tour ticket earns the discount on an ATP Champions Tour ticket.

To purchase tickets call 561-330-6000, order online at www.YellowTennisBall.com or in-person at Walmart’s Ticketmaster outlets or the Delray Beach ITC box office (open Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, 561-330-6000, 30 NW 1st Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33444).

Complete tournament information is available on the official Delray Beach ITC website, www.YellowTennisBall.com

The 2013 ATP World Tour Delray Beach Field: Kevin Anderson (RSA), Benjamin Becker (GER), Marin Cilic (CRO), Ivan Dodig (CRO), Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR), Evgeny Donskoy (RUS), Alejandro Falla (COL), Mardy Fish (USA), Tommy Haas (GER), Ryan Harrison (USA), John Isner (USA), Denis Istomin (UZB), Lukas Lacko (SVK), Feliciano Lopez (ESP), Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE), Xavier Malisse (BEL), Marinko Matosevic (AUS), Gael Monfils (FRA), Kei Nishikori (JPN), Bjorn Phau (GER), Igor Sijsling (NED), Go Soeda (JPN), Grega Zemlja (SLO)

The 2013 ATP Champions Tour Field: John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash, Carlos Moya, Mark Philippoussis, Aaron Krickstein

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14 comments

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 31, 2013 at 9:54 am

    Very strong field this year for one of Tennis-prose.com’s favorite events. Looking forward to watching La Monf, Lopez, Dolgopolov, Kei, Harrison, Haas, Anderson, Cilic, Iz in action.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 31, 2013 at 10:17 am

    Querrey was awarded a wildcard today. Two more WCs available. Maybe Young and Hewitt? How about a WC into the senior event for Spadea?

  • Dan markowitz · January 31, 2013 at 11:02 am

    What a field in Delray! I’m torn between going down for Delray or Miami. What do you think, Scoop? Miami obviously is the bigger event, but Delray in my mind is the gunner event. Only 3 courts playing, you’re closer to the action, less media and more access to players, The restaurants on Atlantic Ave and the beach right there. Plus we get to hit on the nice courts there at DelrayTennis Center.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 31, 2013 at 11:08 am

    This has to be the best field in Delray Beach history Dan, I’m there. Also playing a friends Polonia Open in nearby WPB that week too. Hope to attend Miami also. Both are excellent events and unique in their own way. Stunning electric field in Delray for sure.

  • Mitch · January 31, 2013 at 1:54 pm

    I hope Fish is healthy enough to play.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 31, 2013 at 2:24 pm

    I read that Fish is the hitting partner this week for the Davis Cup team.

  • Mitch · January 31, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    He just pulled out of San Jose.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 31, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    It’s a very strange case with Mardy Fish. Hard to believe a young healthy fit guy like him has heart troubles, hope he can overcome this. If he’s hitting with the US team in JAX you have to think he’s gearing up for one more run.

  • Dan Markowitz · January 31, 2013 at 5:20 pm

    Oh, I would think he’s thinking of playing at least a couple of more years on tour. But it is perplexing that now it seems like it’s not so much the heart that is bothering him, but it’s anxiety issues.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 31, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    Never will forget the year Fish came outta nowhere and broke the top 10, that had to be one of the biggest surprises of the decade. Fish was, as Lloyd Carroll, call him at the US Open after a 5 set loss to Robredo, “a journeyman.” Insulted by that comment, Fish really dedicated himself and despite a supposedly flawed forehand, became an elite top 10 player. Nobody saw that coming, not even the great Dan Markowitz.

  • Dan Markowitz · February 1, 2013 at 3:27 am

    I’m glad I’m finally getting the respect I deserve here being called “great.” No, I didn’t see Fish’s rise to such prominence happening. The guy was struggling to beat Spadea for most of his career. But the extreme fitness really pushed him forward. Also, he plays a game where, as Spadea says, he can play frontcourt and backcourt. The forehand has kept him from being a real top player and maybe his inability to really motor around the court because his volleys and backhand are top-notch.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 1, 2013 at 8:52 am

    Fish was always a very good player, seemed to have a mediocre desire and hunger to reach the top for most of his career, but when Lloy Carroll basically called him at journeyman after he choked a lead in the five set loss to Robredo at US Open, something changed in Fish. He was really offended by that comment and that was a turning point. Lloyd and I talk about that all the time at the Open. He said he talked with Fish about it also and Fish actually said he gives Lloyd credit for his career turnaround. I’m going to email Lloyd for the exact quotes in his verbal exchanges with Fish and post them later.

  • Dan Markowitz · February 1, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    Now wait a second, Scoop, you’re giving Lloyd Carroll, who isn’t even a tennis writer, with Fish’s turnaround? Sounds kind of fishy.

    Just caught a little of the Davis Cup from Jacksonville. It is lame to watch a Querrey-Bellucci and then Isner-Alves. I mean, maybe that’s why there’s like less than 1,000 people in the stands. It’s also kind of lame that you have a Davis Cup tie in Florida and it’s indoors. If you’re going to have an indoor tie, stage it in New York. Geez, it looks like crap and minor leagues when there’s like 300 people watching.

  • Scoop Malinowski · February 1, 2013 at 5:28 pm

    Absolutely I saw it with my own eyes. Lloyd, not meaning to disrespect, asked Mardy a question and called him a journeyman in it, and it was like a reality check for Mardy. He realized the perception by the reporter was reality and it sparked something in him. Then a year later after Fish turned his career around, Fish told Lloyd that that journeyman tag at the press conference definitely was a motivator and he gave Lloyd credit. I’m going to call Lloyd and get him to talk about it in detail. Very interesting story, for sure.

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