Spanish Talent Heading to 2008 Heineken Open
Former World No. 1 and Rising Star Join Strong Line-Up
There's a definite Latino feel to the confirmed names for the Heineken Open featuring the Sovereign singles and doubles.
And the feeling is all quality with former world No1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and compatriot Nicolas Almagro joining the already confirmed David Ferrer (Spain), Guillermo Canas (Argentina), Juan Monaco (Argentina) plus Croatian Mario Ancic.
Ferrero, currently ranked at 24 th , may not have been able to add to his career titles tally of 11 in 2007, but he still made the final of Costa Do Sauipe where he was beaten by Canas and made a big impact at numerous other events.
He was a semifinalist at three events Vienna, Acapulco and the Masters Series at Monte Carlo where he beat Richard Gasquet but lost to Roger Federer.
There was also a quarter-final at Stuttgart and the big result of the year which was on the grass at Wimbledon where he beat Czech, Jan Hajek in five sets in the first round. In the second round he defeated Luxembourg's Gilles Muller in five sets, James Blake in the third round in four sets before accounting for Janko Tipsarevic in straight sets in round four.
Eventually Ferrero lost to Federer in the quarters in four sets proving that despite being a former Roland Garros champion he can more than adequately handle grass courts too.
He had the misfortune to play Federer three times in the later stages of events in 2007. However Ferrero has beaten Federer on three occasions, including at the Heineken Open on court six in 2000 in straight sets as both players who were teenagers at the time launched their careers on the world.
Aside from his win on the clay at Roland Garros in 2003 there has been plenty of other success in Grand Slams.
There was a runner-up finish at Roland Garros in 2002 and at the US Open in 2003 as well as semifinal results at Roland Garros in 2000/01 and the Australian Open in 2004.
The signing of Ferrero who held the No1 ranking in September 2003 means that six of the players announced so far are ranked inside the top-30 in the world. Only Ancic who has been recovering from injuries and is ranked at 85 is not in the top-30.
Twenty-two-year old Almagro ranked at 28 adds an extra bit of depth to the draw after yet another consistent year of the ATP circuit.
He defended his singles crown at Valencia beat Potito Starace in three sets in the final and also made the final at Bastad beating Carlos Moya in the semis before falling to Ferrer.
There was a semifinal appearance at Bueno Aires and four quarter-finals including at Masters Series events Hamburg (beat Tommy Robredo but lost to Lleyton Hewitt) and Cincinnati where he defeated Ivan Ljubicic and Jarkko Nieminen but was beaten by Federer.
Leading the Spanish players will be defending champion, David Ferrer who is sitting at a career-high ranking of No5 after making the final of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai recently.
Ferrer will be one of the highest ranked seeds to take the court at the ASB Tennis Centre only Marcello Rios and Guillermo Coria have come close.
In 1999 Rios was No2 when he played his first round match while Coria in 2004 was No5.
Juan Carlos is a popular player returning to Auckland for the fourth time. He continues to show he's one of the more competitive and consistent players around. He result at Wimbledon this year also proves he's more than comfortable on all surfaces. His countryman Nicolas Almagro is a young Spanish player on the way up and has also had a solid year.
Both Juan Carlos and Nicolas compliment the fact we have David Ferrer heading the field , says Heineken Open tournament director, Graham Pearce.
The Heineken Open featuring the Sovereign singles and doubles will be held at the ASB Tennis Centre, January 7 12, 2008 with the first two days of qualifying January 5 6, 2008 at the Albany Tennis Park, Oteha Valley Road, Albany starting at 10am each day.
The 2008 tournament will feature live scoring as well as live streaming of play and audio podcasts.
