Tournament Preview: St. Petersburg 22-30 October 2005 ST. PETERSBURG OPEN 2005 As the 2005 ATP season draws to a close, Russia hosts its second tournament for the year, this time in St. Petersburg, after the Kremlin Cup in Moscow 2 weeks ago. It is the eleventh time the tournament will be held in St. Petersburg, and last year, Mikhail Youzhny triumphed in his homeland over Slovakian, Karol Beck 6-2 6-2 to claim his second tour title. The doubles honours went to the French pair of Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clément, who defeated Hrbaty and Levinsky 6-3 6-2. In 2005, Youzhny will return as one of the top seeds to defend his title and will be joined by fellow Russian and current world number 8, Nikolay Davydenko. Thomas Johansson of Sweden and Max Mirnyi of Belarus as well as Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland have also accepted to play here. Russia's top player and reigning Australian Open champion, Marat Safin, who has won this tournament twice before, is unable to play due to a knee injury that he has been suffering since June. However, with Youzhny, Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov, Russian fans will still have something to cheer about. With the absense of Safin, the field as opened up somewhat and it will be interesting to see who will prevail. 2 of the top 3 players are Russian so the locals have a definite chance at winning in Mother Russia, however, with the likes of 2002 Australian Open champion, Johansson, and US Open quarterfinalist, Nieminen, the Russians will not have it easy. Qualifying will run from Saturday 22 October to Monday 24 October, starting at 10, 11 and midday respectively. The main draw will be made on Saturday 22 October at 2pm with main draw matches commencing on Monday 24 October. Day sessions from Monday to Thursday commence at 3pm while night sessions Monday to Friday start at 7pm. Friday-Sunday, day matches start at 2pm. The tournament is held at the St. Petersburg Sports & Concert Complex at Prospect Yourija Gagarina 8, which houses 3 indoor carpeted courts, with a centre court capacity of 12 000 people. The official hotel is the Grand Hotel Europe. Ticket prices range from 100 rub to 30 000 rub depending on day and seating zone, but an average ticket in zone 2 on Monday-Thursday will cost 200 rub. There are also full packages and weekend packages available. All of this information, plus detailed prices and a seating plan, can be found by visiting http://www.spbopen.ru/eng/tickets/. To order tickets, call the hotline 8 (812) 703-4040. St. Petersburg is a beautiful European city in itself with its majestic buildings and fascinating history and culture. Whether you're into browsing through the Hermitage or checking out the nightlife, the Petersburg City Guide http://petersburgcity.com/ will get you started with everything you need to know to make your St. Petersburg Open experience one to remember. Tournament Fast Facts: Venue: St. Petersburg Sports & Concert Complex, St. Petersburg, Russia Dates: 22 - 30 October 2005 Singles Qualifying: 32 Main Draw Singles: 32 Main Draw Doubles: 16 Surface: Indoor carpet Prize Money: $975, 000 Tournament Director: Mikhail Rydnik Main Draw Players: Davydenko, Nikolay RUS Johansson, Thomas SWE Youzhny, Mikhail RUS Mirnyi, Max BLR Rusedski, Greg GBR Nieminen, Jarkko FIN Kiefer, Nicolas GER Verdasco, Fernando ESP Beck, Karol SVK Melzer, Jurgen AUT Pavel, Andrei ROM Carlsen, Kenneth DEN Serra, Florent FRA Saulnier, Cyril FRA Minar, Ivo CZE Kim, Kevin USA Goldstein, Paul USA Monaco, Juan ARG Tursunov, Dmitry RUS Vik, Robin CZE Hernych, Jan CZE Sabau, Razvan ROM Lapentti, Nicolas ECU Alternates: Seppi, Andreas ITA Karlovic, Ivo CRO Santoro, Fabrice FRA Behrend Tomas GER Kohlschreiber, Philipp GER Dlouhy, Lukas CZE Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo ESP Burgsmuller, Lars GER Schuettler, Rainer GER Popp, Alexander GER Bracciali, Daniele ITA Bjorkman, Jonas SWE Doubles Acceptances: Wayne Arthurs (AUS) Paul Hanley (AUS) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) Martin Damm (CZE) Simon Aspelin (SWE) Todd Perry (AUS) Frantisek Cermak (CZE) Leos Friedl (CZE) Julian Knowle (AUT) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) Marcin Matkowski (POL) Paul Goldstein (USA) Jim Thomas (USA) Michael Mertinak (SVK) Petr Pala (CZE)