The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2014 will proceed as scheduled from September 20 to 28 and will feature three of the world’s top 10 players – Juan Martin Del Potro, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori. This will be the sixth edition of the ATP 250 tournament that takes place at the state of the art Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil. The total financial commitment is $ 1,022,255.
Del Potro, currently recuperating from a right wrist surgery done earlier this year, is slated to make his comeback on tour right at this event.
Nishikori, ranked 10th in the world at this moment, has had success in the event in the past, having reached the semifinals in 2011 and 2012. The Japanese tennis star has a stellar 2014 season so far, highlighted with a title victory at the ATP 500 Barcelona Open and reaching the final of the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Open. He will be accompanied by his coach – former French Open champion Michael Chang.
“I always love to come back to Malaysia,” Nishikori said. “They have a great stadium, good crowd and good food at the lounge, too. I’ve not won the tournament, so it‘s going to be my goal to win it. Hopefully I can do well at Malaysia this year.
“I hope I can do well in KL, especially in front of Michael who had so much success in Asia, and I hope a lot of the crowds come out to support me. Hopefully it is going to be a great tournament (for me).”
Milos Raonic is also having a banner year so far and this week at the French Open, the Canadian reached the quarterfinals (lost to N. Djokovic). He made his debut at this event back in 2010 as a qualifier. Ranked 237th back then, he fought his way through the qualifying rounds and reached the quarterfinals.
“There are a lot of good memories for me there and to be coming back is very exciting and I hope to make a lot more of those memories,” said Raonic. “I’m excited to come back to Malaysia; those were great experiences in 2010 and it sort of led to all the things that happened for me in 2011 as far as my breakthrough.
“I do enjoy playing indoors. It’s where I’ve had probably my best results, with most of my titles coming indoors. I do get excited and it is a reason why I chose to play the event, and I feel like it just suits my game.”
“The Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia is proud to be playing our part to keep the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur in the country, the only ATP World Tour tournament in Southeast Asia,” said YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.
“With three of the world’s top-ten already confirmed, combined with over 1,200 hours of global television coverage and many exciting promotions and marketing activities, we look forward to the event that continues to grow as a major sports entertainment property in Malaysia, and which attract tourists and very significant media coverage from around the world.”
“On behalf of all of us at the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia, we are delighted that the ATP Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur has extended its tenure in our country,” said Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk Abdul Razak Latiff, President of The Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia. “With the many opportunities the tournament creates for tennis players of all levels, the tournament is an important component of our development efforts, especially now given the renewed focus towards our sport as emphasized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.”
“On behalf of the tournament team, I would like to warmly thank our tournament Patron, Yang Amat Berbahagia Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, and the Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz for their trust and support in enabling the tournament to remain in Malaysia,” said Nick Freyer, Tournament Director, Senior Vice President, IMG, Head of Tennis Asia.
“As we embark on our next chapter, we look forward to bringing the big names of tennis to Malaysia and thank Juan Martin, Kei and Milos and the others that will follow, for selecting KL as their first port of call in Asia. These are exciting times and it also gives me great pride to see so many of our sponsors remaining as part of our family for so many years, as we celebrate Visit Malaysia Year 2014.”
The full entry list will be released by August 2014.
For more information about the event, you can visit the official website HERE, the official Twitter account HERE and Facebook page HERE
