Why so serious, guys? Sad that Roger pulled out?
REUTERS/Mick Tsikas via Daylife
The top guys did press on Tuesday in advance of the Kooyong AAMI Classic exhibition tournament, which starts on Wednesday. The line-up is led by Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro along with Robin Soderling, Fernando Verdasco, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Gonzalez, and Tommy Haas. Ivan Ljubicic took the mystery guest eighth spot after Roger finally turned it down and Andy Murray has signed on to play an exhibition (yes, it’s an an exhibition at an exhibition) match on Thursday.
Most of these guys are making their 2010 debuts at the event – trying to give themselves as much time as possible to train and relax. Novak Djokovic told reporters that there are some scheduling changes in the works:
“We have to have at least two months (break) and that’s a minimum, (especially) considering the season that we are playing, the amount of matches and the level we are playing on. We will have some talks here in Australia and we will try to work towards the next couple of months and make (the schedule) better.”
The guys obviously don’t need more time to practice their game faces. It’s on!
REUTERS/Mick Tsikas via Daylife
REUTERS/Mick Tsikas via Daylife
REUTERS/Mick Tsikas via Daylife
REUTERS/Mick Tsikas via Daylife
Looking at these guys, I realize that almost all of them a major contenders for the Australian Open title. And the favorites – Federer, Nadal, Murray and Davydenko aren’t even pictured here! It’s going to be a very, very interesting Australian Open, no?
First round matches are as follows: Djokovic vs. Haas, Fernando G. vs. Fernando V., Soderling vs. Tsonga, Ljubicic vs. Del Potro.
Click here for the AAMI Kooyong website.
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