Novak Djokovic holds up the ATP World Tour Finals trophy in London earlier this month. (AFP). Right: Rafael Nadal has won one title in Doha so far. (AFP)
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will return to light up the Qatar ExxonMobil Open when the tournament kicks off on January 4.
The Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) yesterday announced a stellar field of participants for the upcoming tournament. For the 24th consecutive year, Doha will be the starting point for 32 players on the ATP World Tour as they begin their 2016 season.
Djokovic is returning to Doha after a 2015 season that saw him win 11 titles in many events including US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon. This is Djokovic’s second appearance in the Qatari capital.
Also returning to Doha will be Spanish world No 5 Nadal. In 2015, Nadal won three titles (Hamburg, Stuttgart and Buenos Aires).
Tomas Berdych, world No 6, from Czech Republic, is making his third appearance at this year’s event. The winner of 12 singles career titles, he won 2 titles in 2015 –Stockholm and Shenzhen.
World No7 David Ferrer will return to Doha to defend his title. Apart from Doha, the Spaniard won four more titles — Vienna, Kuala Lumpur, Acapulco and Rio de Janeiro — in 2015.
French world No 9 Richard Gasquet, who won in Estoril and Montpellier in 2015, will make a trip to Doha in his quest for a second title here.
Talking about the field, tournament director Karim Alami said, “We are incredibly honoured to have another year with players of the highest calibre coming to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The week in Doha kicks off the ATP World Tour season and these players are looking to hit the courts fresh from their end-of-season break. Novak returns to Doha as world No. 1 for second consecutive year, Rafael Nadal is looking to win his second Doha title, Ferrer will try to defend his title from last year.”
The rest of the field includes Feliciano Lopez, Andreas Seppi, Leonardo Mayer and fan’s favourite Fernando Verdasco.
