The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2012, release the main draw doubles entry list today and that its inaugural doubles Champions from Poland, Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg will headline the field.
They are seventh in the race for the London World Tour Finals, with the top eight teams qualifying. The pairing won the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur in 2009 as part of their current title haul of 13 tournaments. In 2010 they were also finalists in Malaysia, and clearly feel very comfortable with the court and playing conditions at Bukit Jalil.
In 2011 they were finalists at the US Open and this year they won the ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid and were finalists in Dubai.
Tournament Director Nick Freyer of organisers IMG said:
“We welcome back Marcin and Mariusz back to KL for their third appearance in four years and enjoy watching them as much as they seem to enjoy Malaysia. But with so many successful tournament winning doubles players in the draw this year, a third finals appearance will be no stroll in the park.”
To prove the point that singles players are still playing doubles, we will see two players who have been ranked in the world’s top-ten for singles teaming up, Juan Monaco, currently ranked #11 and Jurgen Melzer who is also returning to KL after his first visit last year.
Monaco, who is making his eagerly awaited debut in Malaysia, is not a regular doubles player, but still has two titles and two finals to his credit, while Melzer has significant success on the doubles court - he owns 12 doubles titles including trophies from the Championships at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Asia is nicely represented by Treat Conrad Huey of The Philippines – the first time that the Philippines have been represented in the tournament.
He and British player Dominic Inglot have had a great season in 2012. Together they won the ATP 500 in Washington, reached the final in Houston, were semi-finalists at Newport and quarter-finalists at Estoril and Bucharest. They also made it to the last 16 at the French Open.
Heuy and Inglot are sitting in www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com 17th spot in the race but a few big wins like in Kuala Lumpur, could catapult them into contention for London.
Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares are teaming up again. This year they were finalists at Bastad in Sweden. They also made the quarters of the US Open. Peya also won in Auckland this year while Soares won in Sao Paulo. Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek could very well be turning into quite a formidable doubles tandem. They were quarter-finalists at the US Open and in Winston-Salem this year, but with his other partner Knowle, he has fourteen titles and Polasek has nine.
This year Knowle who has been a career finalist at Wimbledon, the US Open and the season-ending championships, this year won in Kitzbuhel and was a finalist in Estoril, while Polasek won in Munich and Doha.
Another team that could be close to breaking into the London finals are Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins. They are 13th in the Race and in 2012 won in Eastbourne and Delray Beach, the final at Newport semis in Atlanta, Memphis and Sydney and quarters at Queen’s. They also made the last 16 at the US Open. Last year in KL, both players made a memorable helicopter flight above the famous Petronas Towers, as part of the tournaments international marketing efforts.
Fleming (left) and Hutchins hovering around KL last year
The doubles enhances the singles draw which will be led by world No.5 David Ferrer who became only the second Spaniard after Rafa Nadal to reach the quarters or better at all four Grand Slam events in a single year. Joining Ferrer will be Juan Monaco, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Kei Nishikori, Sam Querry, Feliciano Lopez and a host of other ATP World Tour stars.
Ferrer, who made the semis of the US Open last week, will be heading to Kuala Lumpur following Davis Cup duties this week in Spain (against the United States), and tournament organisers IMG have confirmed that David will play his first match on Thursday evening, September 27th.
The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia, and Tourism Malaysia and commercial sponsors including Rado, the DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, CNN International, Astro, Wilson, 100 Plus, Corona, The ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner, and is sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia. Tickets are available at www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com.
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