Tomas Berdych to complete Australian Open warm-up at Kooyong
World No. 6 Tomas Berdych is among the early confirmations for next January’s AAMI Classic in Kooyong, Melbourne.
The Australian Open warm-up tournament is also set to feature US Open semi-finalist Mikhail Youzhny, the 2009 Kooyong winner Fernando Verdasco, Australian No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, former Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and his French counterpart Gael Monfils.
The announcement of that sextet leaves two spots open in the exhibition event, which has in recent years has seen the likes of 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and 2008 Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic grace the courts to complete their preparations for the year’s first major.
Berdych may not have set the courts alight at Melbourne Park in previous years, his best performances coming in 2008 and 2009 when he reached the fourth round (losing to Federer on both occasions) but he will make his Kooyong debut on the back of an impressive 2010.
The 25-year-old Czech this season finally matched expectation to talent as he reached the semi-finals of the French Open and went one better at Wimbledon – defeating defending champion Federer in the quarter-finals before losing to Rafael Nadal in the final.
For Australian hope Hewitt, whose best chance to be crowned Australian Open champion in all likelihood came and went in 2005 when Marat Safin defeated him in a four-set final, playing at Kooyong in a switch to his usual preparation for his home Grand Slam, which has seen him head to Sydney for a final tune-up for six of the past seven years.
Indeed, 2011 is set to be the dual Grand Slam champion’s debut at the Kooyong Classic, and will follow his visit to Perth to play in the exhibition mixed doubles competition that is the Hopman Cup, where this year Hewitt will be partnering Alicia Molik in the event.
At 29, and with an upset first-round exit from the US Open at the hands of 109th ranked Paul-Henri Mathieu his last appearance at a ranking event (Hewitt also played for Australian in their Davis Cup World Group Play-off loss to Belgium), and a ranking that has now slipped to world No. 54, Hewitt would seem to be a long shot at claiming the ultimate success at his home Grand Slam next year, but three guaranteed matches against quality opposition at Kooyong surely can’t hurt his chances.
In addition to the current crop of players competing at Kooyong next year, five past champions - Pat Cash, Mats Wilander, Henri Leconte, Mikael Pernfors and Mansour Bahrami – will be playing in Legends matches at the January 12th-15th event.
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