The 37th ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament will be held at Ahoy Rotterdam between Monday 8 and Sunday 14 February 2010, attracting some of the biggest names in tennis, including four top-10 and eight top-20 players. The final tournament line-up includes recent entrants Nikolay Davydenko and Gaël Monfils, two of the world’s best players.

The 37th edition of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament will be attended by no less than four top-10 players: Rafael Nadal (2) pictured right, Novak Djokovic (3), Nikolay Davydenko (6), pictured below left, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10). Rafael Nadal is the biggest name on the list. Having ranked second in the world since 25 July 2005, he reached the top of the ATP rankings on 18 August 2008. Last season’s knee injury forced him to relinquish first place to archrival Roger Federer in July 2009. He even ranked third for a while before reclaiming second place in September 2009. Apart from the Australian Open, Nadal won the ATP World Tour 1000 Masters in Rome, Monte Carlo and India Wells, as well as the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona. He came close to winning the title in Rotterdam in 2009, losing to Andy Murray in the final.

Novak Djokovic has ranked among the top-5 players since June 2007. He won no less than five tournaments in 2009, including the ATP World Tour 1000 Masters in Paris, and the ATP World Tour 500 tournaments in Basel, Beijing and Dubai. In 2008 he won the Australian Open.

Davydenko (pictured left) has ranked among the world’s best players for many years, reaching third place in 2006, his highest ranking to date. He won the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November 2009, beating all reigning Grand Slam champions on the way.

A sizeable delegation of Frenchmen will attend the 37th edition of the ABN AMRO WTT, including their leading player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10). He will be joined by Gaël Monfils (13) and Gilles Simon (15). All three managed to secure at least one ATP World Tour title during the 2009 season.

Tommy Robredo (16) and former champion Mikhail Youzhny (19) take the total number of top-20 players to eight.

Tournament Director Richard Krajicek has also managed to contract James Blake (44), the first American to participate in the ABN MARO WTT for several years.

In addition to the above players, the tournament line-up includes Ivan Ljubicic (Cro), Jürgen Melzer (Aut), Viktor Troicki (Ser), Janko Tipsarevic (Ser), Andreas Beck (Ger), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spa), Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp), Julien Benneteau (Fra), Feliciano Lopez (Spa), Andreas Seppi (Ita), Evgeny Korolev (Rus), Marco Chiudinelli (Swi), Olivier Rochus (Bel), Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr), Florian Mayer (Ger) and Arnaud Clement (Fra).

Robin Haase and Thiemo de Bakker received wild cards to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament some time ago. This is the third time that Haase will participate in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The Dutchman was knocked out by the eventual tournament winner on both previous occasions – Mikhail Youzhny during the second round in 2007 and Michael Llodra during the 2008 quarterfinals. Haase did cause a major upset in 2008 by disposing of Andy Murray in the opening round. Like Haase, this is Bakker’s third singles appearance at the ABN AMRO WTT. In 2009, he lost his first round match against Andreas Seppi in three sets. Two years earlier, he was beaten by third seed Ivan Ljubicic, also in the opening round.

The final wild card will be awarded at a later stage.

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament Plaza is a place to relax and unwind in the luxury shopping square. The tournament visitor can not only discover the latest trends in sports and casual wear, men's and women's fashion, luxury goods, jewelry, antiques, golf, etc., but also enjoy a fashion show from the large terrace.

In the Sports Plaza, visitors of various tennis levels can practice tennis under the expert supervision. The concept offers young and old a unique tennis experience. In addition, the visitors, while enjoying a snack and drink, watch various sports demonstrations.

The ABN AMRO World Wheelchair Tennis Tournament for men takes place between 11 and 13 February 2010. The ABN AMRO World Wheelchair Tennis Tournament will be held at the same time as the ABN AMRO WTT. This year’s event, which will again be coordinated by Tournament Director Esther Vergeer, includes a doubles tournament.

The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was awarded the ATP 500 status in the ATP World Tour in 2009. With this status it belongs to the 11 tournaments worldwide where, after the Grand Slams and the ATP 1000 tournaments, most point can be won by the players.

Finals Day
As was the case in 2009, the doubles final will be played before the singles final. The doubles event is scheduled to start at noon on Sunday 14 February while the singles final is due to start at 2 pm.

Qualifying Tournament
The qualifying tournament - during which 16 players compete for the last four places in the main tournament - will be held on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February 2010. Tournament Director Richard Krajicek still has three wild cards to award for the qualifying tournament, which starts at 11:00 on both days. Day tickets cost €10 each.

Ticket Sales
Thousands of tennis fans have already secured a ticket for one of the world-class matches to be played during the 37th edition of the ABN AMRO WTT. Tickets can be ordered via 0900 300 1250 (Monday to Saturday between 09:00 and 21:00 - €0.45 p/m), www.ticketservice.nl, or the Ahoy box office on 0900 235 2469 (Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 16:00, and Saturday between 09:00 and 13:00 - €0.45 p/m).

Information: www.abnamrowtt.nl

Images:

Rafael Nadal

Nikolay Davydenko

Champion wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer of Netherlands and Rafael Nadal of Spain. Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images.

If you wish to comment or express an opinion about this article please e-mail the editor@TheHagueOnLine.com