Basel lights its fireworks
In a period of rapid change, the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel remains a beacon emanating powerful signals for the future of world tennis. The world’s third largest indoor tournament will take place on a new date, namely from 31 October to 8 November 2009 as a new premium tournament in the 500 series of the restructured ATP World Tour. The presence of world class tennis at the St. Jakobshalle remains set in stone, since four superstars are already contracted to play in the form of Roger Federer (ATP 2), Novak Djokovic (ATP 4), Juan Martin del Potro (ATP 5) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (ATP 9).
A fourth tournament success for Roger Federer?
The shining light of recent tennis history, the four times World Sportsman of the Year (2005 - 2008) and three times winner at Basel (2006 - 2008), Roger Federer (ATP 2), will attempt to become the first professional in the history of the tournament to win the title for the fourth time. Against this background, this year’s main draw will start with a bang, since Federer will contest his first match on the opening day, which is on Monday.
Will Novak Djokovic stand in his way?
On the global tennis stage, Basel cultivates its proud tradition of presenting major names. In addition to Federer, the new emperor from Eastern Europe will be participating, the Serb Novak Djokovic (ATP 4). The man with the whip-like strokes from the baseline joined the select group of Grand Slam Champions last year at the Australian Open in Melbourne and has recently proved (too) hard a nut for Federer on more than one occasion.
Juan Martin del Potro following in the tracks of Vilas
Argentina has a new prince in the shape of the all-rounder Juan Martin del Potro (ATP 5), whom the experts say is already a better player than Guillermo Vilas. The 20-year old reached the semi-final in Basel last year, booking his ticket for the Masters Cup in Shanghai in the process and has continued to move on upwards. Juan Martin del Potro, who can win on all surfaces, is at the beginning of a promising career.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga may put in an explosive performance this year
For the first time in Switzerland, Basel is presenting the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (ATP 9), France’s most valuable black pearl since the times of Yannick Noah. His powerful attack is regarded as a secret blue chip in world tennis. Since Tsonga missed major tournaments such as the French Open and Wimbledon last year because of a knee operation, he may well amass a lot of points in 2009, positively exploding in the rankings and making headway right into the autumn.
Prize money at record levels
Within the framework of the ATP World Tour’s 2009 reform agenda, the Davidoff Swiss Indoors has to hold its own against global metropolises. This has resulted in an increase in the prize money to EUR 1.75 million. This change is directly connected with Basel’s status of now being one of the 11 tournaments in the ATP World Tour 500.
Concentration of talents during the week in Basel
The innovations will add spice to the sporting quality. Players will be battling for more world ranking points in the final spurt towards the Masters Cup, which will take place in London for the first time this year. The strength in depth of the Basel line-up will also intensify once more. At the start of November, only two ATP events will take place in the same week in Europe, in Basel and Valencia. This will make it more difficult for professionals to qualify directly for the main draw. The cut-off for the event will be brought down meaning that players will require a higher ATP ranking in order to gain automatic entry into the draw.
The pressure to perform will increase even in the qualifying rounds (31 October - 1 November 2009). The field of qualifiers will be halved to 16. As before, four players will move up into the main draw. The organisers have two wild cards for those who are eliminated.
Super Monday with Montserrat Caballé and Roger Federer!
Following its groundbreaking success last year, the Davidoff Swiss Indoors will present a global first on 2 November 2009, the Super Monday – a presentation of sport and top class culture. As part of an opening ceremony starting at 17.45 hours, there will be a musical prelude featuring the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé and the Opera Choir of the Theater Basel accompanied by the Basel Festival Orchestra. This unique event will be enhanced by the superstar Roger Federer, who will start his attempt at the title at 18.30 hours following the ceremony.
Donations in support of UNESCO
The UN charity UNESCO will benefit from the Davidoff Swiss Indoors’ humanitarian focus this year. It will receive all the proceeds from the event organised by the Business Club, the Basel tennis tournament network, on 21 September 2009 in the Grand Casino Basel. UNESCO will also receive the corporate donations, which are submitted on the basis of the aces served during the final round of qualifying matches on 1 November 2009. The cheque will be presented to the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Montserrat Caballé by the Tournament President Roger Brennwald at the opening ceremony on 2 November 2009 on the centre court.
An experience that will appeal to every sense
As the country’s sporting and social highlight, the Davidoff Swiss Indoors aims to offer the public top-quality services, such as the range of experiences available in the Foyer spectator zone featuring 70 stands and exhibits. The culinary options now include tibits, which serves vegetarian specialities. Swisslos, the new global betting associate of Swiss Top Sport (the association of the 16 most important sporting events), will also offer spectators the chance of increasing the excitement of the event by betting on the outcome of the various matches.
Internet makes it easy
Bring the centre court and all additional information into your home! Thanks to the support of CS2 Creative Solutions GmbH, tennis fans simply need to click on www.davidoffswissindoors.ch to enjoy the virtual stadium from the comfort of their own homes.
Advance ticket sales have started
Thanks to the cooperation with SBB, spectators will now benefit from advance sales of RailAway combined tickets, a move that will help the 70,000 spectators to arrive by public transport. The centre court will continue to provide space for 9,000 spectators with all seats guaranteeing an excellent view. We recommend you use the following advance ticket sales outlets:
Ticket hotline Tel. +41 (0)900 55 22 25 (CHF 1.00/minute)
Tickets online, Internet www.davidoffswissindoors.ch
Boxes, member cards, VIP tickets Tel. +41 (0)61 485 95 88
