Nottingham doubles attracts reigning Wimbledon champions
Following the news earlier today that Andy Murray (GBR) will
play Dmitry Tursunov ( Russia) in the first round of the Red
Letter Days Open, the 16-strong doubles draw promises to be
equally exciting.
This evening, it has been confirmed that the doubles draw
will feature the No.2 seeds and reigning Wimbledon doubles
champions Wesley Moodie and Stephen Huss (Australia ). They
will play the Thai pairing of Paradorn Srichaphan and his
young compatriot Danai Udomchoke. World no.95 Udomchoke also
plays Jamie Baker (GBR) in the final round of the singles
qualifying tomorrow.
The presence of No.1 seeds and reigning Nottingham doubles
champions, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (world no.9 / Israel
) will also guarantee fast and furious doubles action. Already
this year, the Israeli pair have won in Adelaide and reached
doubles finals in Rotterdam and Rome. They will play the British
wild card entry of Jamie Delgado and Martin Lee.
British tennis fans will also have the chance to watch wild
card Andy Murray (GBR) in doubles action with his elder brother
Jamie. The Scots are drawn to play Justin Gimelstob (USA)
and Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland ) in the first round.
The 3rd seed pairing of Jaroslav Levinsky ( Czech Republic
) and Robert Lindstedt ( Sweden) face Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry
Tursunov of Russia . The Australian No.4 seeds, Ashley Fisher
and Jordan Kerr meet the American duo of Paul Goldstein and
Jim Thomas. Defending singles champion, Richard Gasquet will
play with his French countryman, Nicolas Mahut.
Patrick Hughesman , tournament director of the Red Letter
Days Open commented: "With both the reigning Red Letter
Days Open doubles champions and the 2005 Wimbledon doubles
title holders in action, tennis fans are guaranteed world
class doubles action. It's also terrific to see both the Murray
brothers and Delgado and Lee in action as our respective British
wild card pairings."
The first doubles match gets underway on centre court at
1130am on Monday (19th).
Nottingham has a history of attracting the greats of the
doubles game. In 2004, Todd Woodbridge (w/Hanley) won his
80th career ATP doubles title at Nottingham whilst the current
world no.1 partnership of the Bryan brothers ( USA) lifted
the title in 2003.
From Monday to Friday, the Red Letter Days Open will hold
a doubles match on centre court at 1130am each day.
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