(photo courtesy of the International Tennis Federation)HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 25, 2009) The singles field for next year’s US Men’s Clay Court Championship is beginning to take shape with commitments from World No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez and the No. 2 ranked American Sam Querrey to participate in the 2010 event from April 5-11 at River Oaks Country Club.
Gonzalez and Querrey are the first singles players to commit to play in the 2010 event. The World No. 1 team of Bob and Mike Bryan has committed to return to River Oaks Country Club to defend their US Men’s Clay Court Championship doubles title in 2010.
“This is a great holiday gift for us to have commitments from Fernando and Sam to go along with that of the Bryans,” said Tournament Director Van Barry. “Fernando has consistently been among the best players in the game in recent years, particularly on clay, and Sam is emerging as star for the Americans after really breaking out last summer. These are two very talented players that we are excited to welcome to River Oaks.”
Gonzalez won the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in 2000 as a qualifier by defeating countryman Nicolas Massu when the event was held in Orlando. He was defeated in the first round the following year when the tournament moved to Houston, and has not played in it since. This will be the first appearance for Gonzalez at River Oaks. Runner-up at the 2007 Australian Open, Gonzalez is ranked No. 11 in the world and was 39-16 in 2009, including a 16-3 mark on clay. The Chilean posted his career-best French Open result in 2009, reaching the semifinals before falling in five sets to Robin Soderling. Nine of his 12 career titles have come on clay, including his lone triumph of 2009, which came in his home country at Viña del Mar. He has finished in the Top 15 in the world for five consecutive years, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko as the only players to do so.
Gonzalez is the only men’s tennis player to win one of each Olympic medal. At the 2004 games in Athens, he teamed with Massu to win the gold medal in doubles while also defeating Mardy Fish to claim the singles bronze. In 2008, he brought a silver home from Beijing after falling to Rafael Nadal in the gold medal match.
Querrey had a remarkable 2009 summer in which he reached four finals, won one title and claimed the Olympus US Open Series crown. He reached consecutive finals in Newport, Indianapolis and Los Angeles, claiming the title in LA. He was also runner-up in New Haven before reaching the third round at the US Open. In addition to his summer success, Querrey opened 2009 by reaching the final in Auckland. He reached a career high ranking of No. 22 in August, and ended the year at No. 25, making him the second highest ranked American behind Roddick (No. 7). Querrey is 0-2 at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship. He was due to play in the 2009, but withdrew from singles following his opening round doubles loss due to injury. The end of Querrey’s season was also cut short by injury. While sitting on a glass table at a tournament in Bangkok, the tabletop gave way and Querrey suffered a severe cut to his right (playing) arm. The wound required 25 stitches to close, but Querrey has completed rehabilitation and is already training for 2010.
The Bryan Brothers had committed to the 2010 earlier this year. The 2009 doubles champions have won two titles in three finals at the event. They own 56 titles together, including seven in 2009, placing them just five titles behind the record-holding duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.
Season tickets, individual sessions and the finals weekend “Champ Pass” for the 2010 are on sale now. In 2009, the final three days of the tournament sold out by mid-week. Information on tickets can be found at www.mensclaycourt.com/tickets.
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