Tournament Preview: Paris 31 October - 6 November 2005 BNP PARIBAS MASTERS 2005 For most players, the BNP Paribas Masters signifies the end of another season on the circuit. Paris has the advantage of hosting 2 major events on the ATP calendar; the French Open in May and this Masters Series event in November. Last year, Marat Safin scored his 5th career Masters Series win, after triumphing two weeks before in Madrid. Always a great performer in Paris, Safin beat Czech qualifier, Radek Stepanek, 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3, while in the doubles, number 3 seeds Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge defeated Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett 6-3 6-4. Unfortunately, Safin will not be able to defend his title this year, due to a lingering knee injury and other big names such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi have also withdrawn for various injury reasons, as is often the case at the end of the season. However, the lineup still includes many of the world's best. American world number 3, Andy Roddick, heads the list and will also be joined by the Argentines, Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian, Mariano Puerta and Gaston Gaudio; Russia's Nikolay Davydenko; in-form Croatian, Ivan Ljubicic and fellow Spaniards, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. French fans, though unable to see Richard Gasquet who is injured, will be able to cheer on Sebastian Grosjean, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Gael Monfils, as they attempt to triumph on home soil. At the final tournament of the year, there are always question marks over players' fitness and over who will be able to prevail in the end. Will Roddick be able to improve his game and score his first Masters victory for the season? As was seen last year when Stepanek, the qualifier, made the final, anything can happen. Qualifying is on Saturday 29 October starting at 10am and Sunday 30 October starting at 11am. Main draw action commences on Monday 31st and all sessions from here until Thursday start at 11.30am. Friday's matches get under way at 2pm, Saturday has doubles action from midday and singles action from 2.50pm, while on Sunday, the singles final starts at 3pm followed by the doubles final. The tournament venue is the Palais-Omnisport de Paris-Bercy and can be reached by metro (Bercy or Gare de Lyon stations), bus (lines 24, 87, 20, 63) or by car. Nearby parking lots are at Gare de Bercy and the Mercure Hotel. For more information on getting to the venue, visit http://www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters//?id=928. The official hotel is the Sofitel Paris Bercy. Ticket prices vary from 12.50€ to 56€...but an average category 2 ticket between Monday and Thursday will cost you 28 €. Qualifying costs 8€ for adults and 4€ for children under 18. All tickets can be purchased online from Ticketnet or France Billet or by phone 0 892 390 490 (0,34 €/min.) within France or + 33 1 46 91 57 69 from outside France. There will also be offices at the venue open from 11am to 6pm (except Sundays), as well as in stores FNAC, Auchan, Carrefour, Virgin Megastore, Galeries Lafayette, E Leclerc, Cora and at theatres. For more detailed information on ticketing, visit http://www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters//?id=934. Paris, of course, is always Paris, whether it's hot or cold, Summer or Winter, day or night, there is always something to see and do in the city of romance. The Paris Hotel & Travel Guide http://www.pariscitytourist.com/ has all you need to know about where to go and what to do in this thriving metropolis...where better to end the ATP season than in Paris?! Tournament Fast Facts: Venue: Paris, France Dates: 29 October - 6 November 2005 Singles Qualifying: 24 draw Main Draw Singles: 48 Main Draw Doubles: 16 Surface: Indoor carpet Prize Money: €1,870,000 Tournament Director: Alain Riou Main Draw Players: Roddick, Andy USA Hewitt, Lleyton AUS Davydenko, Nikolay RUS Coria, Guillermo ARG Nalbandian, David ARG Puerta, Mariano ARG Gaudio, Gaston ARG Ferrer, David ESP Johansson, Thomas SWE Ljubicic, Ivan CRO Stepanek, Radek CZE Robredo, Tommy ESP Gonzalez, Fernando CHI Hrbaty, Dominik SVK Ferrero, Juan Carlos ESP Ginepri, Robby USA Dent, Taylor USA Lopez, Feliciano ESP Ancic, Mario CRO Novak, Jiri CZE Youzhny, Mikhail RUS Mirnyi, Max BLR Henman, Tim GBR Rusedski, Greg GBR Rochus, Olivier BEL Grosjean, Sebastien FRA Blake, James USA Kiefer, Nicolas GER Berdych, Tomas CZE Verdasco, Fernando ESP Haas, Tommy GER Hanescu, Victor ROM Nieminen, Jarkko FIN Malisse, Xavier BEL Volandri, Filippo ITA Monfils, Gael FRA Sanguinetti, Davide ITA Massu, Nicolas CHI Pavel, Andrei ROM 40 (WC) 41 (WC) 42 (WC) Qualifying: Mathieu, Paul-Henri FRA Rochus, Christophe BEL Serra, Florent FRA Srichaphan, Paradorn THA Acasuso, Jose ARG Wawrinka, Stanislas SUI Spadea, Vincent USA Zib, Tomas CZE Bjorkman, Jonas SWE Seppi, Andreas ITA Saulnier, Cyril FRA Clement, Arnaud FRA Muller, Gilles LUX Minar, Ivo CZE Tursunov, Dmitry RUS Vik, Robin CZE Hernych, Jan CZE Lapentti, Nicolas ECU Mayer, Florian GER Haehnel, Jerome FRA Santoro, Fabrice FRA Sabau, Razvan ROM Alternates: Karlovic, Ivo CRO Djokovic, Novak SCG Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo ESP Dlouhy, Lukas CZE Monaco, Juan ARG Main Draw Doubles: Jonas Bjorkman (SWE) Max Mirnyi (BLR) Bob Bryan (USA) Mike Bryan (USA) Wayne Black (ZIM) Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) Mark Knowles (BAH) Daniel Nestor (CAN) Michael Llodra (FRA) Fabrice Santoro (FRA) Leander Paes (IND) Nenad Zimonjic (SCG) Wayne Arthurs (AUS) Paul Hanley (AUS) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) Martin Damm (CZE) Jonathan Erlich (ISR) Andy Ram (ISR) Simon Aspelin (SWE) Todd Perry (AUS)