For the second time in its young history the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur will play host to four players ranked in the world’s top-ten. The popular tournament in the heart of Asia has already announced the brilliant Juan Martin Del Potro, in one of his first events back, the exciting Japanese star Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic, the man with the blistering serves.
Once again the specially built indoor courts at Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, will be the host venue for the US$1,022,255 ATP 250 tournament, which takes place from September 20 – 28, 2014.
The Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia and organisers IMG are now delighted to announce that 10th ranked, and one of the most exciting talents and great characters in world tennis, Ernests Gulbis, has confirmed that he will be coming to Kuala Lumpur.
“The tournament team is thrilled that the exciting Ernests Gulbis has chosen to make his first visit to Malaysia during Visit Malaysia Year 2014,” said Tournament Director Nick Freyer. “This makes for an impressive total of four top-ten players who will be participating in the event this year – something which is an honor for the country, and our local and international fans.”
Gulbis reached his current career high ranking of ten following his brilliant run at the French Open last month, which also took him to his first career Grand Slam semifinal. The 25 year old Latvian very quickly became a crowd favorite with his style of play that includes one of the best backhands in men’s tennis, and for his personality on and off the court, which is highly appealing to tennis fans wherever he plays.
“I have not played so much tennis in Asia and I have never been to Kuala Lumpur before, so I am very interested to go there and see everything,” said Gulbis. “I hope the people like me because I am sure they will not know me very well.”
He started the 2014 season ranked 24 in the world which had been a jump of 115 places from the year before. Gulbis has won six career titles and two of them have come this year in Marseille and Nice, which was the week before the French Open. This year he has also been a semi-finalist at the ATP 500’s in Barcelona and Rotterdam, and made the quarters in Doha, Acapulco and the ATP Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Madrid.
Gulbis has enjoyed career wins over Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Juan Martin Del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. His phenomenal charge at the French Open saw him upset Federer again and account for Tomas Berdych.
“Tennis fans in KL are definitely going to be thrilled and excited to watch Ernests in action,” added Freyer. “He is a tremendous character and you can see he enjoys his tennis and has fun on the court when he plays.”
The tournament is proud to welcome back its suite of official sponsors. In addition to the distinguished support of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia and Tourism Malaysia as well as the Ministry of Youth & Sports, the event is proud to have prestigious commercial sponsors that include Rado, CNN International, the DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, Wilson, the Albukhary Foundation, Astro, the ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner Corona, as well as welcome on board KPJ Healthcare Berhad, making its first foray into sponsorship of professional tennis. Other supplier level sponsors include House Restaurant, Cream & Fudge, Pizza Hut, KFC and KiekLover.KL.
Tickets prices remain very reasonable and range from RM 10 to RM 160. There will be free admission between Saturday, September 20 and Tuesday, September 23. Tickets can be purchased now on-line via the tournament website http://www.malaysianopentennis.com/2014/tickets.php, at TicketCharge outlets or through the ticket hotline at TicketCharge Ph: 603-92228811
The full entry list and qualifying recipients, to include at least three Malaysian qualifier wild cards, as determined by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia, will be announced in August.
For more information on the tournament, visit www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com or https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianOpen.KualaLumpur or https://twitter.com/KLopentennis.
