Raonic leads young guns at Thailand Open
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World No 10 Milos Raonic of Canada will lead an array of young guns into the Thailand Open, which will be held from September 21 to 29 at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani. The tournament also features Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and defen
The 22-year-old Canadian, propelled by last week’s terrific result wherein he reached the final of the ATP 1000 Masters in Montreal, finally cracked the top-10 rank this week after hanging around the top 20 for a year.
The big-serving Raonic, touted as one of the top players of the future, reached the quarter-finals in his maiden appearance in the ATP event last year, where he lost a thrilling battle to 2010 finalist Jarkko Nieminen, who is also in this year’s line-up. Bangkok is not new to Raonic. He won a couple of ITF Futures here several years ago.
Also returning to the capital is another youngster Bernard Tomic of Australia, ranked 42nd in the world. The 20-year-old Australian No 1 made it to the last eight in 2012, losing to eventual champion Gasquet.
Two up-and-coming players Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic and Jack Sock of the United States are also in this year’s field. At No 78, Vesley has won three Challenger trophies this season, one in Turkey and twice at home. Vesely, who turned 20 on July 10, is currently the youngest player in the top 80.
Sock, No 87, is one of the rising American stars with a second-round appearance at Roland Garros after coming through the qualifiers, as one of his career highlights. With his booming serves and explosive forehands, Sock, who will turn 21 in September, reached the quarter-finals in Memphis earlier this year upsetting Raonic and former top 10 player James Blake before falling to Feliciano Lopez.
Apart from Murray, the 2011 winner, and last year’s champion Gasquet, Thailand Open field will include another former champion, world No 17 Gilles Simon and 2009 winner.
Other players confirming their participation in the tournament include world No 25 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, No 23 Tommy Robredo, No 27 Feliciano Lopez, No 58 Daniel Gimeno-Traver and No 66 Roberto Bautista Agut, all from Spain. Asia’s hopes will be on No 60 Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan, who last year paired up with Danai Udomchoke to lift the doubles title.
The Thailand Open singles main draw feature 28 players – three wildcards will be announced before the event and an additional four players will enter the main draw via the tournament’s qualifying rounds.
Ticket buyers are offered a number of promotions. For details contact any Thaiticketmajor outlet or log on to www.thaiticketmajor.com or call 02 262 3838.
