op American qualifies for prestigious circuit finale for seventh straight year Final-release tickets made available for all sessions
London, United Kingdom – Top American Andy Roddick has qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, leaving two spots open in the elite eight-man field with four weeks remaining in the regular ATP World Tour season. World No. 6 Roddick will join Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro at the prestigious season finale, to be held from 22-29 November at The O2 in London.
Roddick has now earned a berth at the season finale for seven straight years – the second-longest active streak behind World No. 1 Federer, who secured his eighth consecutive invitation earlier this season. The 27-year-old American reached the event semi-finals in 2003 and ’04 when the event was held in Houston and in 2007 at Shanghai.
"The reaction I received from fans after the Wimbledon final was something I will never forget. I've always had great support in London and I'm looking forward to being back there in November. I'm sure it will be a fantastic event," said Roddick.
From today fans are able to secure the final tickets made available for all sessions of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 arena this November. These lower bowl tickets, which previously were held off sale for production purposes, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
Roddick is on course for an eighth straight Top 10 finish this season, highlighted by his third Wimbledon final in July, when he fell to Federer in the longest men’s Grand Slam singles final (16-14 fifth set). He opened 2009 with a runner-up showing at Doha and extended his title streak to a ninth straight year by clinching his 27th ATP World Tour title at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis. During the North American summer swing, he became the fourth active player to reach the 500 match wins plateau with his run to the final in Washington, D.C.
Despite suffering a left knee injury this past week in his opening match at the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Roddick received positive results from an MRI scan and is expected to resume training in two to three weeks.
The battle for the final two singles berths at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is expected to come down to the BNP Paribas Masters, the ninth and final ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season, with less than 1,000 South African Airways ATP Rankings points separating Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the No. 8 position from countryman Tommy Robredo at No. 15 in the year-to-date rankings. Last week’s Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 champion, Russian Nikolay Davydenko, is next in line to qualify and holds a 420-point lead over Verdasco.
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the world’s biggest-ever indoor tennis event, will feature the world’s top eight singles players and eight doubles teams competing to be officially crowned 2009 ATP World Tour Champions. Each of the top eight players and doubles teams will be drawn to play a minimum of three round-robin matches to determine which four players and teams advance to the knockout semi-finals.
With a capacity of 250,000 and only a limited number of tickets remaining, The O2 is set to be a fantastic host for the eight-day singles and doubles tournament. Tickets are available online through Ticketmaster or by calling 0844 847 2495 within the UK. Overseas customers should call +44 161 372 0025.