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Thursday September 24, 2009

Baghdatis and Dent add glitter to Malaysian Open

By LIM TEIK HUAT

KUALA LUMPUR: Grand Slam finalist Marcos Baghdatis and American Taylor Dent, who made a great comeback at the recent US Open after almost three years on the sideline, have been given wildcards into the main draw of the Proton Malaysian Open.

The two players are the latest to join the strong cast for the inaugural US$947,750 ATP World Tour event, which will be held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Sept 26-Oct 4.

Cypriot Baghdatis was a finalist at the 2006 Australian Open and reached a career high ranking at No. 8 that year.

More backing: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen and Malaysian Open tournament director Nick Freyer posing with the merchandise Wednesday. — RAYMOND OOI / The Star

He was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in the same year and enjoyed career wins over Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo and David Nalbandian.

But Baghdatis has struggled with various injuries, including a stress fracture in his right wrist as well as back problems.

The 24-year-old is now fit and is determined to make a full return to the Tour. He has already won two ATP Challenger events this year.

Dent was bedridden for almost a year after a second back operation and had to wear a body cast. The son of 1974 Australian Open runner-up Phil Dent was only given the all-clear to begin light exercise a year ago.

Dent defied doctors’ predictions that he would never play professional tennis again by qualifying for the main draws of the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year.

He capped his comeback story at Flushing Meadows where he reached the third round before losing to Andy Murray.

Virtually unranked at the start of the year, Dent has shot up to No. 122 in the world. And he will come to Kuala Lumpur fresh from bagging the US$50,000 ATP Challenger at Tulsa.

Tournament director Nick Freyer, who has the discretion to pick the wildcard entries, believes that the presence of Baghdatis and Dent will be welcomed by Malaysian tennis fans.

“Wildcards are valuable assets at an event and they are always eagerly anticipated,” said Freyer after a sponsorship function at the Ministry of Tourism yesterday.

“It is also a very important entry point for players who are returning after injuries and trying to get their rankings up or for young players looking for the chance at a breakthrough.

“I have followed the Dent story closely as his manager is a close friend of mine. It is not only a truly remarkable story but he is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet and is an inspirational role model to us all and proof that by never giving up, dreams are achievable.”

Freyer also said that the Ministry of Tourism were taking advantage of the latest technology in tennis by taking up the naming rights for the Haw-Eye Challenge system (electronic line-calling).

The “Malaysia Truly Asia” tagline will be seen each time a player challenges a call on centre court.

“We will call it the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia Review’ and through the use of high-speed, high-definition video cameras and powerful computer technology, we can see what the correct line call outcome is on any challenged calls,” he said.

“This is going to be exciting for the tennis fans as this is the first time the technology is on display in South-East Asia.”

Related Stories:
ATP set to boost Malaysia Truly Asia brand

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