Tournament Preview: Vienna 8-16 October 2005 BA-CA TENNIS TROPHY 2005 Between 8 and 16 October, Vienna will host the BA-CA Tennis Trophy which forms part of the ATP International Gold Series. Last year, the event saw Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez, capture his first ever tour title when he beat Argentine, Guillermo Cañas, in an epic 5 set battle 6-4 1-6 7-5 3-6 7-5. Lopez returns in 2005 to defend his title and will be joined by compatriot and undisputed world number 2, Rafael Nadal, who has had an amazing season including triumphs at Roland Garros, Rome, Monte Carlo and Montreal. Argentina will also be well represented with Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio and David Nalbandian, ranked 8, 9 and 11 respectively, all taking part. Croat, Ivan Ljubicic; Czechs, Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych, and Spaniards, Tommy Robredo; Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya are other high-profile players to have accepted to play in Vienna. Of course, Austrians will also have their fair share of local hopes with Jürgen Melzer, who will be looking to improve on last year's first round loss, as well as 2001 semifinalist, Stefan Koubek, and Oliver Marach, both of whom have been granted wildcards for the tournament. The final wildcard has been given to British number 1, Tim Henman, who had a stellar 2004 and who will be looking to improve his 2005 form in Vienna. In doubles, the world number 1 pairing of the American Bryan twins heads the list, which also includes the world number 4 pairing of Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor and the local Austrian team of Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer, currently ranked number 19 in the world. It has been a long time between drinks for Lopez, who hasn't won a title since triumphing a year ago in Vienna, though he reached the final of New Haven in August. He will undoubtedly be looking to secure another BA-CA Tennis Trophy title and retain his crown, though, given the high standard of players, this will be a tough ask. 19 year old Rafael Nadal, who is incredibly going for his 11th title this season, is the favourite to win, although he too will have many rivals in Coria, Gaudio and Nalbandian. Qualifying will begin at 11am on Saturday 8 October and continue again at 1pm on Sunday 9 October. During these days there will also be a Tournament of Champions in which Muster, Stick, Ivanisevic and Korda will all take part. The main event will start at 2pm on Monday 10 October. This will also be Kids Day which allows all children in for free. All following sessions will commence at 2pm, with Tuesday being Ladies Day (ladies enter for free) and Thursday being Anniversary Day (ticket prices as they were 20 years ago).The tournament will be played at the Wiener Stadthalle which is located at Vogelweidplatz 14 and whose center court seats 9510. It can be reached by underground, tram or bus, with more information available at http://www.sport1.at/pub/catennistrophy/English/anfahrtsplan.html. Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.stadthalle.com/ticketframe.html?evid=725895 and prices vary depending on the day and seating section. For more information on prices and the seating plan, visit http://www.sport1.at/pub/catennistrophy/English/tickets.html. The official hotel is Le Meriden Wien and other official sponsors include Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Mercedes-Benz and Visa. Vienna is also a beautiful city often frequented by tourists and is well worth a few days to explore its history and culture. For more tourist information, visit http://www.aboutvienna.org/city.htm. Tournament Fast Facts: Venue: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria Dates: 8-16 October 2005 Singles Qualifying: 32 draw Main Draw Singles: 32 Main Draw Doubles: 16 Surface: Indoor hard (Opticourt) Prize Money: 565 000 euros Tournament Director: Leo-Gunther Huemer Main Draw Players: Nadal, Rafael ESP Coria, Guillermo ARG Gaudio, Gaston ARG Nalbandian, David ARG Stepanek, Radek CZE Ljubicic, Ivan CRO Robredo, Tommy ESP Lopez, Feliciano ESP Ferrero, Juan Carlos ESP Gonzalez, Fernando CHI Novak, Jiri CZE Haas, Tommy GER Moya, Carlos ESP Berdych, Tomas CZE Grosjean, Sebastien FRA Melzer, Jürgen AUT Mello, Ricardo BRA Zib, Tomas CZE Wawrinka, Stanislas SUI Horna, Luis PER Calleri, Agustin ARG Seppi, Andreas ITA Kim, Kevin USA Minar, Ivo CZE Alternates: Monaco, Juan ARG Lapentti, Nicolas ECU Vik, Robin CZE Koubek, Stefan AUT Bracciali, Daniele ITA Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo ESP Behrend, Tomas GER Burgsmuller, Lars GER Clement, Arnaud FRA Popp, Alexander GER Vanek, Jiri CZE Dlouhy, Lukas CZE Karlovic, Ivo CRO Almagro, Nicolas ESP Gimelstob, Justin USA Qualifying: Almagro, Nicolas ESP Ascione, Thierry FRA Costa, Albert ESP Djokovic, Novak SCG Dupuis, Antony FRA Greul, Simon GER Karanusic, Roko CRO Lisnard, Jean-Rene FRA Marach, Oliver AUT Norman, Dick BEL Phau, Bjorn GER Simon, Gilles FRA Vanek, Jiri CZE Qualifying Alternates: Kubot, Lukasz POL Carraz, Gregory FRA Berrer, Michael GER Niemeyer, Frederic CAN Parmar, Arvind GBR Stakhovsky, Sergiy UKR van Scheppingen, Dennis NED Snobel, Pavel CZE Summerer, Tobias GER Masson, Jeroen BEL Bolelli, Simone ITA Stoppini, Andrea ITA Herm-Zahlava, Jakub GER Bogdanovic, Alex GBR Lammer, Michael SUI Doubles Direct Acceptances: Bob Bryan (USA) Mike Bryan (USA) Mark Knowles (BAH) Daniel Nestor (CAN) Jonathan Erlich (ISR) Andy Ram (ISR) Cyril Suk (CZE) Pavel Vizner (CZE) Gaston Etlis (ARG) Martin Rodriguez (ARG) Julian Knowle (AUT) Jürgen Melzer (AUT) Michal Mertinak (SVK) Petr Pala (CZE) Jiri Novak (CZE) David Skoch (CZE)