Wednesday, June 15, 2011

PRESS RELEASE 

KUALA LUMPUR: The US$1mil Malaysian Open men’s tennis championships from Sept 24-Oct 2 may be headlined by a world top five player for the first time.
Tournament director Nick Freyer, who officiated at the sponsorship signing yesterday of the biggest tennis showcase with ball and apparel suppliers Wilson until 2013, said that they were holding negotiations with a big-name player aside from trying to secure fresh faces who are making headlines in the ATP World Tour.
The current top five ranked players in the world are Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Serbian Novak Djokovic, Swiss Roger Federer, Briton Andy Murray and Swede Robin Soderling.
 “It is not easy to get these players because they have their own schedule to keep up and they normally commit much later,” said Freyer.


“A lot also depends on their results in the coming weeks ahead but we are talking to them. It does not hurt as we (event organisers IMG) manage two of them.




“We also want to get fresh faces who are exciting and marketable for the tournament.”
Freyer said that they hoped to finalise the players for the singles main draw of 28 by mid-August.
The Malaysian Open is one of only five ATP World Tour tournaments in Asia and the organisers announced yesterday a revolutionary ticket strategy that offers unreserved free seating on all days of the tournament and only one ticket price.
Ticket prices are now set at RM10 (Monday and Tuesday), RM15 (Wednesday and Thursday) and RM20 (Friday). Tickets will cost RM50 for the semi-finals on Saturday and the final the next day.
“It is the cheapest ticket a tennis fan can get for a ATP World Tour event,” said Freyer.