Tournament Preview: Munich 29 April - 7 May 2006 BMW OPEN 2006 Germany's first tournament of the year takes place in the Bavarian city of Munich. It is one of the few tournaments where players compete not only for points and money, but also for a brand new BMW! World number 9 and claycourt specialist Guillermo Coria will head the 2006 field, and will be joined by Croatians Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Frenchman Florent Serra, Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Jürgen Melzer among many others, all eager to display their prowess on clay in the lead up to the French Open. Undoubtedly, the highlight for German fans will be Tommy Haas, currently world number 25 but former world number 2, who has clawed his way back up the rankings after injuries and personal problems troubled part of his career. His compatriots Florian Mayer, Björn Phau and Rainer Schüttler will also be hoping to put in a good performance on home turf and perhaps drive off in a nice new car as well! Some of the key matches in the first round are: Tommy Haas v Ivo Karlovic: The home favourite and current world number 25 Haas makes his return to the courts after retiring in the semifinals of Houston a few weeks ago. Former world number 2, he has 1 claycourt title to his name (Houston 2004) but will definitely have the crowd support today. Despite his size and style of play better suited to faster surfaces, Karlovic reached the quarterfinals of Barcelona last week. Their head to heads are 1-1 and curiously, their only meeting on clay in Rome 2004 was won by Karlovic in a close 7-5 4-6 7-6. Andrei Pavel v Jarkko Nieminen: Pavel is currently ranked 87 but has been as high as 13. He has twice been a finalist in Munich and also won a claycourt title in St. Pölten in 2000. Although Romanian, he resides in Germany and so will have quite a bit of support. Jarkko Nieminen has also achieved success on clay, having been a finalist in Estoril and Mallorca, as well as here in Munich in 2003. These two players have played twice before, and Pavel has won both times, though both meetings were on clay. Florent Serra v Robin Söderling: Florent Serra, number 8 seed at this tournament, has had swift rise in the rankings over the last 12 months after winning his first career title at Bucharest last year. He also won the Adelaide hardcourt title this year. This year, his clay results have not been so impressive, however he is always a threat. Robin Söderling has been plagued with injuries of late and, though not renown for his claycourt tennis, scored an upset in Monte Carlo 2 weeks ago over number 5 seed, Davydenko, in the first round. These 2 players have never met before. Philipp Kohlschreiber v Mario Ancic: Kohlschreiber will be playing at home, though he faces the number 2 seed in Mario Ancic. This match will mark Ancic's return to the courts after an injury layoff. If Mario can play well and not start off too sluggishly, he will be favoured to win. This will be the first meeting for these 2 players. Qualifying starts on Saturday 29 April and main draw gets underway on Monday 1 May. Daily play commences at noon Monday- Friday, 1pm on Saturday and 2pm for the final on Sunday. Tickets are available through München Ticket. The official player hotel is the Dorint Novotel München City and the tournament venue is the MTTC Iphitos, where the centre court seats up to 4800 people. Tournament Fast Facts: Venue: MTTC Iphitos, Munich, Germany Dates: 29 April - 7 May 2006 Singles Qualifying draw: 32 Main Draw Singles: 32 Main Draw Doubles: 16 Surface: Outdoor clay Prize money: € 323 250 Tournament Director: Rudi Berger Main Draw Entry List: Coria, Guillermo ARG Ancic, Mario CRO Nieminen, Jarkko FIN Haas, Tommy GER Rochus, Olivier BEL Srichaphan, Paradorn THA Serra, Florent FRA Youzhny, Mikhail RUS Vliegen, Kristof BEL Pashanski, Boris SCG Karlovic, Ivo CRO Soderling, Robin SWE Mayer, Florian GER Bracciali, Daniele ITA Vik, Robin CZE Phau, Bjorn GER Monaco, Juan ARG Melzer, Jurgen AUT Schuettler, Rainer GER Ramirez Hidalgo, Ruben ESP Pavel, Andrei ROM Hernych, Jan CZE Kohlschreiber, Philipp GER Starace, Potito ITA (WC) Greul, Simon GER (WC) Waske, Alexander GER (WC) Beck, Andreas GER