Nalbandian To Make Artois Debut; Crowd Favourite Returns
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The 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian is to make his debut at The Artois Championships, and last year’s finalist Nicolas Mahut will return after adding their names to a star-studded field at The Queen’s Club in London, 9-15 June, 2008.
Nalbandian and Mahut will join reigning French and Australian Open champions Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, four-time Artois winners Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, and Britain’s Andy Murray on the official entry list, which was revealed today.
Other notable entrants include the World No.9 Richard Gasquet, last year’s Australian Open finalist Fernando Gonzalez, and the two tallest players on the ATP circuit - the 6’9” American John Isner and the 6’10” Ivo Karlovic, who reached the final at the 2005 Artois Championships.
“I have never been to Queen’s before, but everyone told me that it is a good tournament,” said Nalbandian. “I am looking forward to being there. I like playing on grass, I played my first Grand Slam final on grass in 2002 and I will be in London for one month this time so I think I will be more prepared for Wimbledon than ever before.”
Mahut won the hearts of The Queen’s Club crowds in 2007 with a swashbuckling run to the final. Few British tennis fans would have heard of the Frenchman before The Artois Championships last year, but the serve-and-volley tennis he produced in his victories over fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic and top seed Nadal on his way to the final left an indelible mark on anyone who witnessed them.
In the final, Mahut put enormous pressure on Andy Roddick and held a match point before going down 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 in one of the tournament’s best ever finals. It was a performance that earned Mahut the respect of Roddick and a legion of new fans.
“He came through Jonas Bjorkman, Ljubicic and Nadal to get through to the final and he played great tennis in the final. I was very lucky to win,” said Roddick.
Mahut disagreed with Roddick’s assertion, but paid tribute
to the crowd. “I had a match point but it wasn’t bad
luck,” he said. “I had a chance to win the match and
I missed it. It was my fault. The crowd gave me goosebumps, and
I will keep the memory of it for a very long time. It was amazing
how the crowd reacted to me.”