The 2014 ATP Tour season will begin with a bang. Entry lists are out for events in Doha, Brisbane, and Chennai and both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are set for immediate action.
Nadal headlines a strong Qatar ExxonMobil Open field that also features the return of Andy Murray, who missed the 2013 fall swing due to back surgery. David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and fellow World Tour Finals participant Richard Gasquet are also scheduled to kick off their campaigns in Doha.
Federer is joined in the Brisbane International by Kei Nishikori, Gilles Simon, Kevin Anderson, and Grigor Dimitrov. This will be the 32-year-old Swiss’ first appearance in Brisbane, although he played in the 2000 installment of this event when it was held in Adelaide.
Stanislas Wawrinka and Benoit Paire, who teamed up to win the Chennai doubles title this year, are heading back to India. Mikhail Youzhny, Fabio Fognini, and Vasek Pospisil will also be seeded in the singles tournament. Youzhny captured the title in his last trip to Chennai back in 2007, when he destroyed Nadal 6-0, 6-1 in the final. Nadal had been coming off a 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(1) thriller against Carlos Moya that lasted three hours and 55 minutes.
Click here for links to full entry lists.
The Doha field is strong indeed…………..there is Muzza, Ferru, Berdy, Gulbis and Davy to name a few.
—Youzhny captured the title in his last trip to Chennai back in 2007, when he destroyed Nadal 6-0, 6-1 in the final. —
A victory over Rafa brings a big honour to everybody. In January 2007, Rafa was 20 years old.
In Doha/Qatar where Rafa will play, he has beaten Mikhail Youzhny twice: in the 2005 R32 (Rafa was 18 years old) and in the 2012 QFs.
—This will be the 32-year-old Swiss’ first appearance in Brisbane, although he played in the 2000 installment of this event when it was held in Adelaide.—
In 2000, the Swiss was defeated by Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.
Ooooh. I didn’t know Youzhny once delivered a bread basket to Rafa.
How did that happen?
Have just googled the match and learnt the background to it. Still, it’s not like Rafa to buckle like that from tiredness unless he is also injured which he was adamant he was not.
It was actually January 2008 (not 2007) which means it was the year Rafa lost to Tsonga in the SF of the AO shortly afterwards only to go on a tear for the remainder of the year.
^^^ed, this was how he did it:
Ricky:
“Youzhny captured the title in his last trip to Chennai back in 2007, when he destroyed Nadal 6-0, 6-1 in the final. Nadal had been coming off a 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(1) thriller against Carlos Moya that lasted three hours and 55 minutes.”