Tournament Preview: Barcelona 22-30 April 2006

OPEN SEAT GODO 2006

Spain's second largest tournament takes place every year at the end of April at the prestigious Real Club de Tenis 
Barcelona. It is a tournament rich in history, having first been played in 1953 to inaugurate the new club in Pedralbes. 
Since then, it has attracted some of the biggest names in tennis and this year is no exception. Nadal Mania will be in full 
swing once more as Rafael Nadal takes to centre court. His following in his home country is so great that last year he 
needed several bodyguards to keep fans at bay. Despite this, he was still able to notch up a straight sets win over 
compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final, to win his first ever Trofeo Conde de Godó. He also reached the doubles final 
with good friend Feliciano Lopez, however they were beaten by Paes and Zimonjic. 

Barcelona is one of the main tennis hubs in Spain, with most players residing in or around the city. For this reason, the 
participants list usually includes most, if not all Spanish players who are able to make it in. This year there will be at 
least 10 Spaniards in the main draw, headed by Rafael Nadal. He will be joined by David Ferrer, 2001 champion and two times 
runner up Juan Carlos Ferrero, 2004 champion Tommy Robredo, 2003 champion Carlos Moya, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, 
Alberto Martín, Nicolas Almagro (who recently won his first career title in Valencia) and 2002 French Open champion and 
1997 winner Albert Costa who received a wildcard into what could be his last Open Godó. 

However, the tournament also attracts a lot of international stars too and this year's number two seed will be Argentina's 
David Nalbandian. This year he has reached a career high ranking of 3 and is one of the few players to have reached the 
semifinals of all 4 Grand Slams. He will be joined by fellow Argentines Guillermo Coria, Juan Ignacio Chela, José Acasuso, 
Agustin Calleri and Gaston Gaudio, the last of whom won the tournament in 2002 and was the finalist in 2004. Completing the 
list of 6 top ten players at the tournament are Nikolay Davydenko and Ivan Ljubicic, both of whom enjoyed their best 
seasons in 2005. 

While Nadal might take up a fair share of the limelight, several other young rising stars will be also be participating at 
this year's event. Nicolas Almagro has already been mentioned, and it will be interesting to see if the hot-headed Spaniard 
will be able to continue his great form which took him all the way through qualies to his first ATP title in Valencia 2 
weeks ago. Tomas Berdych, Igor Andreev, Gaël Monfils, Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic are all names to 
watch out for in 2006.

But if youngsters aren't your thing, from 20-23 April, the SEAT Champion's Cup will take place at the club and fans will be 
able to see the likes of John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Richard Krajicek, Sergi Bruguera, Emilio Sanchez, Carlos Costa, 
Andres Gomez and Martin Jaite in action.

Qualifying will be played the weekend before the tournament and main draw will start on Monday 24 April at 10.30am. This 
will be the case through to Thursday and Friday's play will start at 12.30pm. The final will be the best of 5 sets. Tickets 
for all sessions may be purchased by phone +34 902 33 22 11 or online at Servicaixa.com. For more information, visit the 
tournament website. The official hotel is the Meliá Barcelona and the tournament venue is the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona. 
The tennis club is easily accessible by public transport (bus, tombus or metro) and all detailed information can be found 
on the event website. Barcelona is the kind of place you can visit any time of the year and there'll always be something 
going on. Whether you're simply there for the tennis, or to take in some of the amazing Gaudí architecture, or experience 
the crazy nightlife, this will definitely be one wild week of claycourt tennis. 


Tournament Fast Facts:

Venue: Real Club de Tenis, Barcelona, Spain
Dates: 22 - 30 April 2006
Singles Qualifying draw: 28
Main Draw Singles: 56
Main Draw Doubles: 32 
Surface: Outdoor clay
Prize money: € 850 000
Tournament Director: Sixte Cambra


Main Draw Entry List:

Nadal, Rafael ESP 
Nalbandian, David ARG  
Davydenko, Nikolay RUS 
Ljubicic, Ivan CRO 
Coria, Guillermo ARG 
Gaudio, Gaston ARG 
Ferrer, David ESP 
Johansson, Thomas SWE 
Ferrero, Juan Carlos ESP 
Stepanek, Radek CZE  
Gasquet, Richard FRA  
Robredo, Tommy ESP  
Hrbaty, Dominik SVK  
Nieminen, Jarkko FIN 
Berdych, Tomas CZE  
Andreev, Igor RUS  
Monfils, Gael FRA 
Moya, Carlos ESP 
Chela, Juan Ignacio ARG  
Volandri, Filippo ITA 
Verdasco, Fernando ESP 
Mathieu, Paul-Henri FRA  
Acasuso, Jose ARG 
Lopez, Feliciano ESP  
Hanescu, Victor ROM 
Murray, Andy GBR  
Verkerk, Martin NED 
Malisse, Xavier BEL 
Tursunov, Dmitry RUS  
Mirnyi, Max BLR 
Vliegen, Kristof BEL  
Wawrinka, Stanislas SUI  
Karlovic, Ivo CRO  
Martin, Alberto ESP 
Srichaphan, Paradorn THA 
Calleri, Agustin ARG 
Vik, Robin CZE 
Djokovic, Novak SCG 
Zib, Tomas CZE 
Dlouhy, Lukas CZE  
Almagro, Nicolas ESP  
Spadea, Vincent USA 
Pavel, Andrei ROM 
44 (SE) 
45 (WC) Costa, Albert ESP 
46 (WC) 
47 (WC) 
48 (WC) 
49 (WC) 


Main Draw Alternates:

Montañés, Albert ESP 
Starace, Potito ITA  
Kohlschreiber, Philipp GER 
Sluiter, Raemon NED 
Waske, Alexander GER 
Lapentti, Nicolas ECU 
Gimelstob, Justin USA 
Marin, Juan Antonio CRC 
Behrend, Tomas GER 
Vicente, Fernando ESP 
Tipsarevic, Janko SCG 
Portas, Albert ESP  
Vanek, Jiri CZE 
Marach, Oliver AUT  


Qualifying:

Montañés, Albert ESP 
Waske, Alexander GER 
Marin, Juan Antonio CRC  
Portas, Albert ESP 
Berrer, Michael GER 
Hernandez, Oscar ESP 
Vicente, Fernando ESP 
Van Gemerden, Melle NED 
Luczak, Peter AUS 
Gabashvili, Teimuraz RUS 
Navarro Pastor, Ivan ESP 
Gremelmayr, Denis GER 
Korolev, Evgeny RUS 
Cipolla, Flavio ITA 
Gimeno-Traver, Daniel ESP 
Galvani, Stefano ITA 
Calatrava, Alex ESP 
Ventura, Santiago ESP 
Mertinak, Michal SVK 
Mertl, Jan CZE 
Meffert, Dominik GER  
Klec, Ivo SVK 
Lammer, Michael SUI 
Economidis, Konstantinos GRE 
25 (WC) 
26 (WC) 
27 (WC) 
28 (WC) 


Qualifying Alternates:

Eschauer, Werner AUT  
Eitzinger, Rainer AUT 
Ungur, Adrian ROM  
Robert, Stephane FRA 
Lopez, Marc ESP  
Stoppini, Andrea ITA  
Tenconi, Tomas ITA 
Ruiz-Cadenas, Hector ESP 
Schukin, Yuri RUS 
Granollers-Pujol, Marcel ESP  
Dell'Acqua, Massimo ITA 
De Chaunac, Sebastien FRA 
Pedrini, Marco ITA  
Marrero, David ESP 
Olejniczak, Dawid POL