David Ferrer will lead the field at the 2012 Heineken Open – Tennis News
Full field for the next year’s Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, has been announced by the organisers, with the world number five, David Ferrer of Spain, being seeded at number one. The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour 250 event will be played on the outdoor hard courts from 9th to 14th of January next year.
Despite been an ATP 250 event, the Heineken Open is regarded as a crucial stop in the preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open. Top seed Ferrer will be defending his title in Auckland next season,
along with other top quality tennis stars in the field. The Spaniard will be joined by his fellow compatriot and the world number 10, Nicolas Almagro, in the exciting Auckland field.
Ferrer has been in sublime all this season, finishing with a 58-19 winning record and two clay-court titles to his name. The Spaniard also featured the elite eight-man filed at the season ending grand finale, the Barclays ATP World
Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London this month, moving all to the way to the semi-finals before losing to the eventual champion, Roger Federer. The 29-year-old outplayed the world number one, Novak Djokovic and the third seed Andy Murray in the round robin
stage of the mega event at The O2 to finish his 2011 season on a high note.
The tournament director, Richard Palmer, was really excited on Ferrer’s commitment, along with the new faces trying to get their place among the top stars, to be a part of the Heineken Open next year.
“Ferrer was one of the only players to beat Djokovic this year so he’s in some pretty impressive form as he heads to Auckland. And I’m sure both Verdasco and Young will be crowd pleasers with their emotive styles,” said Palmer.
The tournament marketing manager, Luke Rive, was also very enthusiastic for the action to begin in Auckland.
“With two in the top 10 and some great depth we will again have a fantastic main draw. We are really looking forward to kicking off the new year with another high energy Heineken Open,” he expressed.
Other big names in the line-up include the 24th ranked Fernando Verdasco, 2011 South African Open champion Kevin Anderson, Argentina’s Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela, Former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero,
Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci, Donald Young from the United States and the rising star, Ryan Harrison, as the wildcard entrant in the draw.
All the eight seeds at the Heineken Open 2012 are in the top-39 in the ATP World Rankings, making it an exciting event for the tennis fans.
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