Tennis talents Andrey Rublev and Taylor Fritz fired up for Adelaide International tournament
Talented Russian Andrey Rublev and American Taylor Fritz will join Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic at next month’s Adelaide International tennis showcase at Memorial Drive.
Tennis
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Two more young players tipped to topple the old guard of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are to play at the new Adelaide International tournament next month.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev and the Californian Taylor Fritz will turn out at the ATP 250 event that now has a core of men shaping up as the next generation of top players, with Australian number one Alex de Minaur and teenager Felix Agur-Aliassime already committed.
And representing the establishment will be 36-year-old Fernando Verdasco, a player familiar to Adelaide audiences via his appearances at the now defunct World Tennis Challenge.
The super-fit Verdasco, astonishingly, will be gearing up for his 67th consecutive grand slam, in Melbourne the week after the Adelaide International.
Russia’s Rublev, 22-years-old and world number 23, is the form player, winning four matches at the Davis Cup finals last month and has beaten Roger Federer and world number four Dominic Them in the past few months.
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Fritz, also 22 and a former junior world number one, will be returning to Adelaide for the first time since winning the City of Onkaparinga Challenger nearly four years ago.
“I have great memories of visiting Adelaide for the first time in 2016. I’m looking forward to visiting again and seeing more of what the city has to offer,” he said.
“This tournament will be the perfect lead in to the Australian Open.”
The big hitter, who has been playing tennis since he was just two-years-old, is world ranked 32 and is coached by Pete Sampras’ former mentor Paul Annacone.
He will be a key part of the American team in the inaugural ATP Cup, the week immediately before the Adelaide event.
Verdasco, now ranked world 49, was coached briefly by Adelaide’s Darren Cahill as part of the Adidas coaching program that ran in Las Vegas several ago.
“Fernando has been here a couple of times, he has always been pretty good with us. He has been in the top 50 for 15 years,” Adelaide international tournament director Alistair MacDonald said.
“His 2009 Australian Open semi-final (he lost to Rafael Nadal in five hours and 14 minutes) was probably the best match I have ever watched in terms of quality.
“He’s a great shot maker and still competitive, it’s an opportunity to play here under the new canopy.
“I kind of knew he would want to play here.”
There will be further player announcements on Wednesday said Mr MacDonald for the men’s and women’s tournaments, which run at the revamped Memorial Drive from Sunday January 12 through to Saturday January 18.
World number one Ash Barty and Wimbledon champion Simona Halep are already inked in to play.
Verdasco and Fritz will headline the Adelaide International Kids Tennis Day at Memorial Drive on Sunday, January 12, which will have ANZ Tennis Hot Shots, a bouncy castle, safari train and the chance to meet some players.