PRESS RELEASES 2008
Top Seeds of the 2008 XL Bermuda Open continue to soar through the ranks.
April 10, 2008
With less then two weeks to go before the start of the 2008 XL Bermuda Open, Tournament Director Alec Anderson is overwhelmed at the quality of the singles draw to date.
“Dudi Sela who will more then likely be our top seed in this year’s XL Bermuda Open, along with at least 12 other players have improved their rankings since the deadline for signup a little over a week ago. With more then half of our signed players in the top one hundred now, this gives us one of the strongest fields we have had in the past 10 years”, said Alec.
Donald Young, one of the up and coming Americans has maintained his ranking of 77 and is looking forward to playing on the clay courts of Coral Beach. “As the youngest player to finish in the top 100 in 2007, Donald is just one example of the strong field coming to Bermuda this year,” Alec added.
Robbie Ginepri, former # 15 in the world has also improved his ranking and is well on his way to his comeback. John Isner, Vincent Spadea, Sergio Roitman, Peter Luczak, Marcel Granollers-Pujol, Frank Dancevic, Pablo Cuevas and Carlos Berlocq are just an example of how competitive the field will be here as they all maintain or better their rankings in the weeks leading up to the tournament.
The XL Bermuda Open - - - 15 Years of ATP Tour Tennis.
Ernests Gulbis gets wild card into the Main Draw of the XL Bermuda Open
April 17, 2008
As the preparation for the XL Bermuda open continues on the courts of The Coral Beach and Tennis Club, Tournament Director Alec Anderson has allocated his fourth wild card into the main draw.
Ernests Gulbis currently ranked 85 in the world will make his first trip to Bermuda to compete in next weeks Tournament. At the young age of 19, Ernests ranking has been as high as 46 in October of 2007, when he reached the quarter finals in Las Vagas.
FREE ADMISSION THIS WEEKEND - The Tournament kicks off this weekend with the qualifying rounds. 2007 Qualifyer Nikita Kryvonos among others will again battle it out to secure a spot in the main draw.
April 1, 2008
With less then three weeks to go before the 2008 XL Bermuda Tennis Championships, Tournament Director Alec Anderson is thrilled at the news that the former number 15 in the world Robby Ginepri will be competing in this year’s Tournament.
In 2005 Ginepri enjoyed his best year to date. He reached the quarter finals or better in nine ATP events, Including Auckland, Memphis, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, US Open, Bangkok, Tokyo and Madrid with wins over top seeded players Fish, Roddick, Stepanek, Moya, Ferrer, Safin, Guillermo, Haas and Davydenko. He took the tile in Indianapolis and reached the semi finals in Cincinnati and Madrid. That year he fought his way through three five set matches in a row to face Andre Agassi in the semi finals at the US Open.
Greg Jones
Alec has granted the young Australian player Greg Jones a wild card into the main draw. This young Australian had an outstanding career in the Juniors. In 2006, he claimed the Championship at the ITF Thailand Open and the Asia/Oceania Closed Championships. Last year, he was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open, US Open Junior Championships and a semi-finalist at the Wimbledon Junior Championship. Jones became the first Australian boy to reach the French Open Junior finals in 20 years. He was also a finalist at the Optus Nottinghill International. After turning pro last year, he had great success on the Futures circuit, reaching the semi-finals in four events and the finals in two doubles events. He reached the finals playing in his first Challenger event in Tasmania. This year, Jones played in his first International Series event in Sydney and his first professional Grand Slam appearance in doubles.
Donald Young
Alec is also very excited that Donald’s ranking continues to jump and is now number 77 in the world. “As the youngest player to finish in the top 100 in 2007, Donald is just one example of the strong field coming to Bermuda this year,” Alec added.
Legend Players
The XL Bermuda Open has also confirmed the legend players for this year’s event. To date Alec can confirm all time great Roy Emerson, 1993 XL Bermuda Open champion Mikael Pernfors, two time Australian Open winner with 14 single titles to his name Johan Kriek and for the first time Australian Mark Woodforde most famously remembered as one half of "The Woodies", they were the ATP Doubles Team of the Year four times, and all together the Woodies won 61 ATP doubles tournaments (Woodforde won 67 in his career). The Legend players will be running clinics for the Official Sponsors of the XL Bermuda Open for those sponsors and their guests. They will also be staring in the PricewaterhouseCoopers Legends exhibition match on Sunday April 27th at 1pm at Coral Beach.
Roy Emerson
Emerson is the most prolific Grand Slam titleholder in the history of tennis. With 28 Grand Slam Championship crowns, he is king of the tennis record books. Ruling the courts with his mighty backhand, "Emmo" captured two singles and three doubles titles at Wimbledon. With five different partners, he won six consecutive doubles championships at the French Open to go along with two singles titles. And, he won two singles and four doubles titles from the U.S. Open. He remains the only male player to win singles and doubles titles at all four Grand Slam events. A hero in his homeland "Down Under", Emerson went way over the record charts as the man with the most "mosts". He secured five successive Australian singles titles from 1963 to 1967, the most earned by any male player at the event. Overall Australian Open performance: six singles and three doubles titles. As a valued member of the Australian Davis Cup squad from 1959-1967, Emmo won 36 of the 40 Davis Cup matches. His eight team championships are the most won by any man in Davis Cup history. Add up all his victories and it's no surprise that Emerson is considered by many to be the best player of all time. His induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982 is testimony to his talents.
Mikael Pernfors
A native of Sweden, Mikael Pernfors attended college in the US at the University of Georgia and was twice crowned the NCAA singles champion. Pernfors turned pro and joined the Men’s Circuit in 1985. He went on to win three career singles titles and reached a career high singles ranking of 10. He was a finalist at the 1986 French Open where he upset Henri Leconte and Boris Becker on his way to the Final. Pernfors was the 2003 French Open Legends winner. Played for his country in Davis Cup competition and today tours on the Worldwide Senior Tour. In 1993, the inaugural year of the XL Capital Bermuda Open, Pernfors captured the title with a win over Ctislav Dosedel.
Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde is most famously remembered as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge. Woodforde was born in Adelaide, and joined the men's professional tennis ATP Tour in 1984. He won four singles titles, including his hometown Adelaide tournament twice. This Australian won an astonishing twelve Grand Slam doubles titles in his career - one French Open, two Australian Opens, three U.S. Opens, and a record six Wimbledons. Eleven of these victories came as a member of the Woodies, and he won the 1989 U.S. Open doubles with John McEnroe. He enjoyed the greatest success of his career when playing doubles with Woodbridge, combining his left-hand baseline play with Woodbridge's swift volleying reflexes at the net. They were the ATP Doubles Team of the Year four times, and all together the Woodies won 61 ATP doubles tournaments (Woodforde won 67 in his career). Woodforde's other career highlights included a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He also won five Grand Slam mixed doubles titles - one French Open, two Australian Opens, one U.S. Open, and one Wimbledon. He played for the Australian Davis Cup Team in three Davis Cup finals, including teaming with Woodbridge to clinch the 1999 win over France in Paris to give Australia its first Davis Cup victory in 13 years.
Johan Kriek
Kriek was born in Pongola, South Africa but moved to Naples, Florida after becoming pro. He had an illustrious tennis career in the 1980’s. His biggest victories came at the Australian Open where he won the title twice (in 1981 and 1982). In his career he has won 14 singles titles and 8 in doubles, including Sarasota, Monterrey, Newport, Memphis, Tampa, Bristol, Johannesburg, Las Vegas and Forest Hills, to name a few. Kriek reached the quarterfinals in four consecutive Masters tournaments from January 1983 to January 1986. He has reached the quarterfinals or better in all four Grand Slams. In 2005, Kriek visited his native South Africa and became acutely aware of the urgency for clean water and has since formed the Global Water Foundation to increase awareness, raise funds for clean-water projects in Africa and get people to conserve water. He hopes that this may be his biggest legacy.
March 10, 2008
The Bermuda Tennis Foundation is pleased to announce the dates for this year’s XL Bermuda Open Tennis Championships. The dates for this year are April 21 to 27, 2008 and the Tournament will once again take place on the clay courts of the charming Coral Beach and Tennis Club.
Tournament Director, Mr. Alec Anderson is also proud to announce that the Tournament will be celebrating its 15 Year Anniversary. The XL Bermuda Open has become one of the most popular sporting events in Bermuda. The 2007 event showcased all the excitement that local tennis players and fans have come to recognize as synonymous with what is now called the “jump-start to the clay court season”. Many players who have played in Bermuda have considered this event their lucky charm as they have often found Bermuda to be a spring-board to their next step on the Tour, and after the XL, are often found competing in the major tournaments of Wimbledon and the French Open.
The XL Bermuda Open Tennis Championships is a world-class sports and entertainment event. Rich in excitement, the XL Bermuda Open is staged on one of the world's most beautiful islands and features some of the greatest athletes in all of tennis. We note that current top ten ranked players James Blake, Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian all played in the XL Bermuda Open in the past.The XL Bermuda Open welcomes more than 10,000 fans from Bermuda and around the world each year and is televised to 50 million homes in the United States, South America and Asia.
The XL Bermuda Open is truly a world class tennis and entertainment spectacular.
Tickets for the 2007 XL Bermuda Open are now on sale at the Sportseller in the Washington Mall, Hamilton and online at www.xlcapitalbermudaopen.bm and www.boxoffice.bm
