ATP Doha TD: 'ATP Cup draws best players but our field is good as well'

The 28th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open takes place at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha between January 6-11, marking the beginning of the season together with the ATP Cup. Unlike in the past three decades, the organizers in Doha didn't have to compete against the fellow ATP 250 tournaments but the inaugural team event organized by the ATP itself, gathering a solid field of players who didn't want to travel to Australia that early or didn't find the place in the national squad. Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic had all won the title here in the past and it was Roberto Bautista Agut who joined the list of champions last January, beating Tomas Berdych in the title match.

Five players from the top-40 will fight for the crown next week, with a former finalist Stan Wawrinka leading the action as the top seed ahead of 2018 finalist Andrey Rublev. Just like Roger Federer, Wawrinka has decided to skip the ATP Cup and kick off the season in Doha, returning for the sixth time and seeking a good result after earning only six victories at this event so far. Milos Raonic, Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga should compete for a good result as well and the organizers are expecting great crowd and entertaining encounters. Tournament director Karem Alami is pleased with a list of players who will compete in Doha, aware of the fact how strong the ATP Cup is and that the players from the top want to be there. Also, they will try to move the event into February and forge the Middle East swing together with the ATP 500 event in Dubai, although it is not that easy to find an empty space in the calendar.

"We are pretty happy with the field we have got in Doha," Alami said. "We are aware that the ATP Cup stands as the priority in the opening week for many players from the top but we have some good names as well, including Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic. Other notable names like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco will join them in the title chase, together with a former finalist Andrey Rublev. The calendar is a little bit different this year, starting a week later than usual and we will see how the crowd will react. At the moment, things have been going nicely and the players from the qualifying draw are already on the court practicing. It is a great achievement for the Qatar Tennis Federation to host this event for so long; they are doing a great job and we have been improving year after year.

The feedback from the players is a testimony of how well the event has shaped up, taking the Tournament of the Year on the ATP Tour three times. It feels great to achieve that but we won't stop here, working on those small details and fixing small mistakes to make the tournament the best possible one. We have been talking with the ATP about possible change of the date in the calendar for a year and a half. It is not an easy thing to achieve and make the necessary balance with other events. We would love to move the tournament to February and make it a part of the Middle East swing with Dubai, hoping to hear good news about that in the future, but it is certainly not easy."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2FaKb4J