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Delray Beach entry list is looking really good again for this year
11 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
DELRAY BEACH: The Delray Beach Open by The Venetian® Las Vegas has received the Official Entry List for its 2014 ATP World Tour event coming up Feb. 17-23 at the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center. The event is in its 22nd year, and 16th in Delray Beach.
The latest stars to join the 32-player field included Top 30 players Feliciano Lopez of Spain and Vasek Pospisil of Canada, No. 2 American Sam Querrey, and former Delray Beach finalists Marinko Matosevic (2012) and Ivo Karlovic (2010).
Overall, four Top 20 players and six of the world’s Top 30 will make up the Delray Beach field. Singles stars who committed early to play include Top 20s Tommy Haas (No. 12), American John Isner (No. 14), Kei Nishikori (No. 17) and Kevin Anderson (No. 20) as well as 2012 world No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, and former world Top 10s Marin Cilic and Marcos Baghdatis. Isner looks to move up in the rankings after winning his eighth career ATP title at the Heineken Open last week.
Hewitt, the two-time Grand Slam champion, beat Roger Federer in the 2014 opening-week Brisbane final. Hewitt (1999), Haas (2006), Nishikori (2008) and Anderson (2012) are all former Delray Beach champions, while Tipsarevic was the 2011 runner-up.
The world No. 1 Bryan Brothers doubles team is going for its third Delray Beach doubles titles after winning titles in 2009 and 2010.
Two singles wild cards remain for tournament director Mark Baron, and the top four players in the Delray Beach Open by The Venetian qualifying tournament also receive direct entries into the tournament. Two special exemptions are also held by the ATP to round out the 32-player draw.
Tickets to the 17-session event, which includes an ATP Champions Tour event starring Andy Roddick and Goran Ivanisevic (Feb. 14-16) in a “USA vs International” team format, range in price from $30 – $60 for reserved seats and $65 – $85 for box seats. ON-court “Best Seats in the House” as well as covered Stadium Veranda seating are also available.
The 2014 Delray Beach Acceptance List: Tommy Haas (GER/USA), John Isner (USA), Kei Nishikori (JPN), Kevin Anderson (RSA), Feliciano Lopez (ESP), Vasek Pospisil (CAN), Marin Cilic (CRO), Lleyton Hewitt (AUS), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB), Marinko Matosevic (AUS), Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE), Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ), Matthew Ebden (AUS), Dudi Sela (ISR), Santiago Giraldo (COL), Adrian Mannarino (FRA), Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP), Ivo Karlovic (CRO), Teymuraz Gabashvili (RUS), Benjamin Becker (GER), Jiri Vesely (CZE), Alejandro Falla (COL), Alex Bogomolov, Jr (RUS), Marcos Baghdatis (AUS) (WC)
Haas · Hewitt · Isner · Kei · Lopez Q-Ball · Tips
Scoop Malinowski · January 27, 2014 at 8:29 pm
And once again for the seventh year in a row Dan and myself will be all over Delray Beach providing our Tennis-prose.com readers with the most all encompassing tennis coverage in the world. And we would love to meet some of our loyal readers there on site for a burger or a beer or even a hit.
Mitch · January 27, 2014 at 10:56 pm
Not too shabby. Do you guys think the event has a future, or that it will get bought and moved like LA and San Jose?
Dan markowitz · January 28, 2014 at 8:26 am
I’ll ask that question to Mark Baron when we’re down there. I’d suspect they’d keep Delray Beach as it has a good following, but that is crazy that the only men’s event in Cally is now Indie Wells.
Scoop Malinowski · January 28, 2014 at 9:20 am
Mitch, not sure, we will seek that information from Delray officials. From my view it’s a pretty successful event, they just got a new lead sponsor The Venetian Hotel Casino in Las Vegas and every year the event is well attended. There’s a good vibe at Delray Beach and it’s a prime location as there are so many tennis players and fans in this region of South Florida.
Bryan · January 30, 2014 at 1:05 am
What’s the story with Ernests Gulbis not playing? Also I question whether Tipsy’s ruptured achilles tendon will keep him out.
Bryan · January 30, 2014 at 1:11 am
I’d think Florida can keep the Delray Open if attendance is good. The problem with San Jose’s SAP Open was they’d charge astronomical prices for seats then complain there’s too much sporting competition with the Warriors, Giants, A’s and Sharks nearby.
False. Del Ray tickets: “$30 – $60 for reserved seats and $65 – $85 for box seats.” That’s a great price. I paid $250 for me and my girlfriend to attend SAP Open in San Jose. And the seats weren’t great.
Scoop Malinowski · January 30, 2014 at 7:20 am
Bryan, Gulbis did the same thing the last time he won Delray, he opted not to defend his title, he is playing a different indoor event in Europe that same week, forget which one exactly. Maybe he feels fresher playing a different event than the pressure of going to Delray and win all his matches to defend the points. Loreley and Amanda would probably know more, they are our resident Gulbis experts 🙂
Amanda · January 30, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Ha. I think Gulbis wanted to just remain in Europe for as long as possible before IW and Miami. He is practicing in Tenerife this week and then playing Rotterdam and Marseille. Too bad he isn’t coming to Memphis/Delray because he would a top seed at both events. What a difference a year makes! I’m worried about him defending those 250 points. 😉
Scoop Malinowski · January 30, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Amanda also knows what Gulbis is having for dinner and desert 🙂 Thanks for the info Amanda.
Bryan · February 1, 2014 at 4:04 pm
Thanks for the info Amanda. It’s perplexing to me why he won’t defend his title. Apparently staying in Europe > defending points.
Scoop Malinowski · February 1, 2014 at 5:43 pm
Bryan, Gulbis also won Delray five years ago and did not come back the next year to defend, so it’s a pattern of Gulbis to skip Delray as champion.