World class tennis once again reigned supreme in Hua Hin as top competitors from around the world battled it out in Centennial Park. Six players, all from different countries and all ranked in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) top 20 competed in the World Tennis Thailand Championship 2015.
The format was a little different than in years past with a 3 day tournament, best of 3 sets with a tie break for each set. To qualify for the tournament players had to have been in the TPA top 20 or won an ATP tournament in 2014. Those competing for the title were;
Tomas Berdych ATP #7
29 year old Tomas Berdych, a Czech national, began playing tennis at 5 and soon became a top junior. In 2013 he was The No. 1 player from the Czech Republic and finished in the ATP Top 10 four years in a row reaching Quarter Finals or better in 15 of 23 international tournaments. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, and World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. In the final, he lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. Berdych ended the 2014 season with a 55-22 match record, including two titles and $3,899,534 in prize money.
David Ferrer ATP #5
32 year old David Ferrer from Spain turned pro in 2000. In the first years of his career he was known as a clay-court specialist, having won half of his titles on the surface. In 2013 he was the No. 2 Spaniard, behind Rafael Nadal and finished a year-end best No. 3, his 3rd year in a row in the Top 5. It was also his 4th straight year where he won at least 55 matches. Ferrer reached a career-high 9 finals, winning his 3rd straight year in Auckland. On February 16th 2014 he became the first player to win 3 straight Buenos Aires titles, marking his 3rd three-peat on the ATP World Tour. Ferrer ended his 2014 season with a 54-24 match record, including one title and $2,809, 026 in prize money.
Richard Gasquet ATP #14
28 year old Richard Gasquet is French and began playing tennis at age four with his father, Francis, who ran tennis club in Serignan. In 2013 he finished in the Top 10 for his 2nd year in a row, 3rd overall, and as top Frenchman for 1st time since 2007. The year also saw him winning 3 titles for 1st time since ‘06 and a personal-best 50 matches. Gasquet ended the 2014 season with a 31-19 singles match record and $847,265 in prize money.
Mios Raonic ATP #6
23 year old Milos Raonic is a Canadian professional tennis player of Montenegrin origin who grew up in Thornhill, Ontario. In 2013 he advanced to 4 finals (2-2) for his 2nd year in a row and won his 5th career title in Bangkok in a doubles match with Tomas Berdych and he was a runner-up at Tokyo. Raonic ended his 2014 season with a 49-20 match record, including one title and $3,494,480 in prize money.
John Isner ATP #15
29 year old John Isner is an American professional tennis player who started playing tennis at nine and is considered to be one of the greatest servers the game has ever seen. In 2013 he was the top American for the 2nd straight year at No. 14 and finished in the Top 20 for his 4th year in a row. His best stretch came during North American summer circuit with 16-4 record.
Fabio Fognini ATP #17
27 year old Fabio Fognini is from Italy and currently Italy’s top player. His career high singles ranking is 13th in the World which he attained in March of 2014. In 2013 Fabio, who began playing tennis at age 4, became the 1st Italian player to finish in the Top 20 since Corrado Barazzutti was No. 10 in 1978. That year he also captured back-to-back ATP World Tour titles in Germany en-route to a personal-high 13-match winning streak and earned him a total of $1,480,993, the most prize money won by an Italian.
The World Tennis Thailand Championship 2015 started on Wednesday Dec, 31st with two matches. The first was with Ferrer playing against Gasquet. Gasquet had spent time with Rafael Nadal to prepare for the new season but it didn’t help him in Hua Hin as Ferrer won the match in three sets. Next up was Fognini who bested John Isner. Both winners moved up to the semi-finals.
New Year’s Day saw both Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer playing at the top of their game but after 3 sets it was Berdych the victor winning 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. Next up was Mios Raonic versus Fabio Fognini with Raonic taking the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
The last day of the tournament’s first match was between Ferrer and Fognini to determine who would take third place. That honor went to David Ferrer beating Fabio of Italy 6-2, 6-0.
The final match of the 3 day tournament which determined who was going home with the trophy and the cash was between Berdych and Milos Raonic. The set scores were 7-6, 7-4 & 6-3 with Berdych winning the World Tennis Thailand Championship.
The triumph made amends for his loss in the final of the 2013 ATP Thailand Open. The six man Hua Hin event was launched to replace the ATP Thailand Open.
“For me it’s not revenge, it’s good to begin the year with a win. I’m pleased with that and I hope I can improve my game. I’m looking forward to the coming season with good results”, Berdych was quoted as saying.
The tournament purse was US $100,000 with the winner of each match receiving $10,000 and the champion $40,000. The President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand, Khun Suwat Liptapanlop said “I believe from the impressions players and fans have from this event, we will make it the tournament of the country in the future. We shall have this tournament again next year but we may have to change the format to make it even more exciting for the fans”.