Wild card coup for SAA Open
4 February 2008
The South African Tennis Association has pulled off a coup with the announcement that former world number three Ivan Ljubicic has been given a wild card entry into the SAA Tennis Open to be played in East London from 11 to 17 February.
The Croat will join Sweden's Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman, Austrian Stefan Koubek, as well as South Africans Wesley Moodie, Rik de Voest and Kevin Anderson at the R875 000 event.
When Ljubicic broke into the top 10 in 2005, he became only the second Croat behind Goran Ivanisevic to do so.
Watershed year
It proved to be a watershed year for the 28-year-old as he also led Croatia to victory in the Davis Cup. In doing so he compiled an 11-1 record (7-1 in singles, 4-0 in doubles) in the competition, the best record since John McEnroe went 12-0 in 1982 for the United States.
Ironically, it was not until his last match of the year when he played Dominic Hrbaty in the
reverse singles at the final in Bratislava, that he was beaten – in a five-set contest.
Ljubicic performed superbly during the year, but he was unlucky to bump the one man he could not beat: Roger Federer. Half of his losses in the first part of the year were at the hands of the Swiss world number one.
Highest ranking
In 2006, Ljubicic broke into the top five for the first time and on 1 May of that year he reached his all-time high ranking of three behind Federer and Rafael Nadal.
He has won eight career titles and has reached 11 other finals. His best results have come at indoor tournaments where he has won five of his eight titles. The surface and the conditions ideally suit his booming serve, which rates among the best in the game.
In 2005, Ljubicic went an amazing 81 games without losing his serve. That run was ended by Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter-finals of the Masters Series in Madrid.
Serving prowess
That year he was number one in break points saved (72%), number two in aces (897), number three in service games won (88%), and number four in second serve points won (55%).
His form in 2007 was somewhat down on the previous year, which resulted in the Croat dropping out of the top 10; he is currently ranked at 22 in the world.
Ljubicic's best Grand Slam performance came at Roland Garros in 2006 where he reached the semifinals of the French Open but then lost to Nadal, who has won the event three times on the trot.
Speaking from his home in Monte Carlo, Ljubicic said he was excited to be playing in South Africa.
"I had a tough year last year and, although I started the year beating Andy Murray to win in Doha, won the grass court tile of Hertogenbosch, and got to the finals in Zagreb and Rotterdam, I was not too happy with my final year end ranking, even though I finished in the top 20 for the third consecutive season,"
he said.
'I'm fired up'
"I'm fired up for 2008 and coming to South Africa for my first visit, and playing in the SAA Open in East London, is the perfect start for what hopefully is going to turn out to be a fantastic year for me."
Ian Smith, Tournament Director and CEO of the South African Tennis Association (Sata), said that long hours of negotiations had taken place to secure Ljubicic for the event.
"We were determined to bring a major star to the tournament this year. Our aim is to build the tournament each year into a bigger and better showcase and in order to do that we have to lure the world's best players to South Africa.
"This is not an easy task and long hours are spent negotiating the right package for the top players. But the hard work has paid off and Ivan is a huge star with a respected game and his inclusion in the field will no doubt boost the event to the highest possible level," said Smith.
Wild cards
Sata, on Sunday, also confirmed the three remaining wild card spots for the forthcoming SAA Tennis Open.
The three players who will join Ivan Ljubicic as wild cards into the main draw are Raven Klaasen, Izak Van der Merwe and Ruan Roelofse, all from South Africa.
Their inclusion guarantees at least six South African players in the main draw of the tournament, with Rik De Voest, Wesley Moodie and Kevin Anderson already included.
The winner of Saturday's Cape Classic in Cape Town, Raven Klaasen is a former Davis Cup player who will be making his first ATP Tour main draw appearance.
Good break
Van der Merwe, who like Klaasen has represented South Africa in the Davis Cup, and was the highest ranked South African on the alternate list. His wild card grant means he won't have to contest the challenging qualifying tournament for the remaining main draw spots next weekend.
Roelofse,
according to Tournament Director Ian Smith earned his wild card sport through his "talent" and "dedication".
"Ruan is one of our countries brightest prospects," he explained. "His commitment to South African tennis and good form of late helped us make the decision to award Ruan with a wild card.
"Sata are committed through this event to give our promising players of the future a chance of breaking through onto the ATP Tour. Hopefully Ruan will take up the opportunity given to him and make that important break."
Source: South African Tennis Association
| 
