2009 Qatar ExxonMobil Open
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Qatar Open, known as the 2009 Qatar ExxonMobil
Open for sponsorship reasons, was a tennis
tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 17th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open
, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series
of the 2009 ATP World Tour
. It took place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex
in Doha
, Qatar
, from January 5 through January 10, 2009. The event offered prize money of $183,000 USD for the winner, as well as 250 ranking points.
The singles field was headlined by World No. 1 Rafael Nadal
, World No. 2 Roger Federer
, World No. 3 Andy Murray, and World No. 8 Andy Roddick
.
was the first player to reach the second round in the singles event with a straight-forward 6–2, 6–2 victory over 99th ranked Czech player Jan Hernych
. His next opponent will be fellow countryman Nicolas Devilder
who overcame home wildcard Abdulla Haji
6–0, 6–3 The no. 4 seed, Andy Roddick
had a comfortable 6–1, 6–3 win against Iván Navarro
. In other first round matches completed on day one, Victor Hănescu
won his match against Viktor Troicki
, the Romanian overcoming the Serbian currently ranked eight places below him in the world rankings at #56 and Italian Andreas Seppi
overcame the German Denis Gremelmayr
by the same scoreline. The match between Sergiy Stakhovsky
(who had just entered the top 100 at #93) and Christophe Rochus
became the first in the tournament to last three sets, Stakhovsky coming out on top 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(3). Philipp Petzschner
won his opening match against Frenchman Jérémy Chardy
7–6(2), 6–3.
Several of the first round doubles matches were also completed. Spanish wildcards and new partnership Marc López
and world no. 1 singles player Rafael Nadal
overcame compatriots Óscar Hernández and Albert Montañés
6–3, 6–3 in just over 1 hour. They set up a quarter-final match with fourth-seeded Germans Christopher Kas
and Philipp Kohlschreiber
who had beaten British pair Ross Hutchins
and Andy Murray (who was also due to play Montañés in the singles tournament) 7–5, 6–4. Home-favourite Abdulla Haji, partnering Lamine Ouahab
of Algeria, lost for the second time in the day, 6–0, 6–2 against Fabrice Santoro
and Mikhail Youzhny
. Second seeded South African duo Jeff Coetzee
and Wesley Moodie
took three sets to beat Igor Andreev
and Jaroslav Levinský
4–6, 6–2, 10-1 on the Champions tiebreak. In the final match of the day, Dmitry Tursunov
and Łukasz Kubot overcame the challenge of Serbian Michal Mertiňák
and Italian Potito Starace
6–2, 6–2.
, made a successful start to his title defence, defeating Spaniard and ATP no. 42 Albert Montañés
6–2, 6–4. Murray broke twice for a 5–1 lead and went 4–0 up in the second set with two further breaks and, despite an inconsistent performance, he managed to win the match. He next faces a match against Philipp Petzschner. Wildcard Arnaud Clément
of Spain advanced to a second round match against Andy Roddick after overcoming Argentine player Diego Junqueira
6–1, 6–2. In the clash of the Russians, Mikhail Youzhny
edged out 6th seed Igor Andreev
4–6, 6–3, 6–4, with a match against Victor Hănescu to come in round two. Qualifier Alexander Peya
, ranked at #148, scored a surprise victory over no. 7 seed, Russian Dmitry Tursunov
2–6, 6–3, 6–4. He set up a clash with Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round. Second seed and former world no. 1 Roger Federer
made a strong start to his ATP Tour campaign, beating Potito Starace in straight sets 6–2, 6–2 and lining up a meeting with Andreas Seppi for a place in the quarter-finals. Top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal
also had a comfortable passage into round two, dropping only 1 game in a 6–0, 6–1 thrashing of veteran Fabrice Santoro, who was still ranked at #51 but couldn't match Nadal's power. Nadal received his 2008 ATP World Tour Champion Trophy before the match, awarded to him for finishing on top of the world rankings at the end of 2008. In other matches, Belgian Kristof Vliegen
reached the second round and a meeting with German Philipp Kohlschreiber
with a 6–1, 6–7(4), 7–6(5) against Óscar Hernández. No. 8 seed Kohlschreiber had earlier won his match against Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli
6–4, 6–3.
The doubles event continued on day two, with an early result seeing Victor Hănescu, partnered by American James Cerretani
, beat Victor Troicki for the second time in two days. Troicki who had also been beaten by Hănescu in the singles event, lost 6–4, 6–4, accompanied by Andreas Seppi. Top seeds Daniel Nestor
from Canada and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjić
easily progressed, losing just 4 games in a 6–3, 6–1defeat of French duo Arnaud Clément
and Nicolas Devilder
who had both reached round two of the singles draw. The quarterfinal line-up was completed by Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya who knocked out third seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg
and Marcin Matkowski
6–1, 7–6(5).
reached the quarter finals with a 6–2, 6–4 victory against Mikhail Youzhny
. Andy Murray took the court second and defeated Philipp Petzschner
6–2, 6–4 to take another step towards retaining his title, followed quickly after by world #1 Rafael Nadal
, who defeated Karol Beck
6–1, 6–2 in 61 minutes. Murray next plays Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky
, who defeated qualifier Alexander Peya
7–5, 6–3. 5th-seeded wildcard Gaël Monfils
was also victorious 7–5, 7–6 against fellow Frenchman Nicolas Devilder
and will next play Nadal. 8th seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber
beat Kristof Vliegen
6–4, 6–7(4), 6–4 and he was due to face Roger Federer
who beat Andreas Seppi
6–3, 6–3. In the final match of the day, fourth seeded Andy Roddick
beat wildcard Arnaud Clément
6–3, 7–5.
In doubles, the quarter finals began with Mikhail Youzhny
playing his second match of the day partnering Fabrice Santoro
against Jeff Coetzee
and Wesley Moodie
for a place in the semi-finals. Youzhny and Santoro shocked the second seeds 7–5, 7–6(2) to book their semi-final place. About 15 minutes later, top seed and ten-times Grand Slam doubles finalists Daniel Nestor
and Nenad Zimonjić
(twice together) started their quarter-final match with Łukasz Kubot and Dmitry Tursunov
, emerging victorious 7–5, 6–4. Third seeds Christopher Kas
and Philipp Kohlschreiber
were also knocked out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage, losing to Spanish wildcards Marc López
and Rafael Nadal
. Philipp Kohlschreiber had won the tournament last year with Czech David Škoch
.
started off the action with his best performance of the week in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Victor Hănescu
. The second match of the day produced the biggest surprise of the event, as #5 seed Gaël Monfils
routed world #1 Rafael Nadal
6-4 6-4, facing only one break point. He was followed by world #2 Roger Federer
, who was heavily tested by Philipp Kohlschreiber
, coming back from 5-1 and 6-3 in the tiebreak to win 6-2, 7-6(6), after having led the German 6-2 4-1. The day ended with world #4 and defending champion Andy Murray cruising to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky
in a repeat of his victory over the Ukrainian in the US Open junior's final. Murray and Federer knew they would meet for the third tournament in a row.
In the doubles, #1 team Daniel Nestor
& Nenad Zimonjić
advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-7(8), 10-3 victory over James Cerretani
& Victor Hănescu. Their opponents are Marc López
& Rafael Nadal, who narrowly defeated Fabrice Santoro
& Mikhail Youzhny
1-6, 7-6(2), 11-9.
was unable to continue his hot streak from the previous day's play, losing to Andy Roddick
7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3, after serving for the first set. The second semifinal saw the very anticipated matchup between defending champ Andy Murray and #2 Roger Federer
. The match didn't disappoint fans, seeing plenty of memorable points, with the Brit prevailing 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2, even though Federer had 3 consecutive break points early in the second set and Murray received medical attention on his back in the third. The match ended with Federer smashing a low overhead into the net. It was the third consecutive official time that Murray prevailed, with Murray also winning an exhibition match last week; Murray extended his head to head lead to 5-2, and goes into his final with a 5-2 lead over Roddick.
In the doubles final, the world #1 team of Daniel Nestor
and Nenad Zimonjić
faced singles world no. 1 Rafael Nadal
and partner Marc López
. Nestor and Zimonjić, the ATP World Tour Champions for 2008, were bidding for the seventh doubles title as a partnership. Nestor had previously won the title at Doha with Mark Knowles
in 1996 and 2001. On the opposite side, Nadal and López were teaming up for the first time. Nadal had won four of his last seven doubles finals while López was appearing in his second ATP doubles final. In the final, López dropped his serve twice in the opening set but in the second, a single break sufficed for Nadal and López to level the match, from Nestor in the third game. In the deciding champions tiebreak (first to ten points), Zimonjić and Nestor led 6–5 but López and Nadal won 5 of the last seven points to seal a 4–6, 6–4, 10–8 victory.
. Despite initial fears from Murray that he would be unfit to play after suffering from a back injury, he recovered enough to participate. The final started with four service holds before Murray broke Roddick in the fifth game for a 3–2 lead. This was followed by another in the seventh game and Murray sealed the set. In the second, Roddick just about held his opening service game but was broken in the third game of the set and then again two games later. Holding a 5–2 lead, Murray fell behind 0–30 on serve and had break point against him. However, he regained his composure and served out to win the match. In winning the tournament, Murray won his ninth career ATP title and defended the title
he won in 2008.
Andy Murray def. 
Andy Roddick
, 6–4, 6–2
Marc López
/ Rafael Nadal
def.
Daniel Nestor
/
Nenad Zimonjić
, 4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
Open for sponsorship reasons, was a tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 17th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The Qatar Open, currently known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...
, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series
ATP World Tour 250 series
The ATP World Tour 250 series is a new series for tennis tournaments of the Association of Tennis Professionals from the 2009 ATP World Tour...
of the 2009 ATP World Tour
2009 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the ATP. The 2009 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...
. It took place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex
Khalifa International Tennis Complex
The Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex is a tennis complex in Doha, Qatar. The center is owned and operated by the Qatar Tennis Federation. It is the home venue of the ATP World Tour's Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the year-ending WTA Tour Championships from 2008-2010. It formerly hosted...
in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, from January 5 through January 10, 2009. The event offered prize money of $183,000 USD for the winner, as well as 250 ranking points.
The singles field was headlined by World No. 1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
, World No. 2 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, World No. 3 Andy Murray, and World No. 8 Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
.
Review
Day by day summaries of the men's singles and doubles events. The singles draw is composed of 32 players, with 8 of these players seeded, while the doubles draw features 16 players, 4 of which are seeded.Day One
Fifth seed Frenchman Gaël MonfilsGaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
was the first player to reach the second round in the singles event with a straight-forward 6–2, 6–2 victory over 99th ranked Czech player Jan Hernych
Jan Hernych
Jan Mauda Hernych is a professional male tennis player from Czech Republic. Born in Prague, he turned pro in 1998 and achieved his highest ranking of World No. 59 on 27 April 2009. He is currently 241st in the ATP rankings.-External links:...
. His next opponent will be fellow countryman Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder is a French male tennis player. He reached a career high singles ranking of 60 in the world on September 8, 2008, after reaching the semifinals of the Montevideo Challenger, where he lost to former top ten player, Guillermo Cañas...
who overcame home wildcard Abdulla Haji
Abdulla Haji
Abdulla Haji is a tennis player from Qatar. He played an Association of Tennis Professionals tournament at the 2008 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he fell to Michael Berrer.-External links:*...
6–0, 6–3 The no. 4 seed, Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
had a comfortable 6–1, 6–3 win against Iván Navarro
Iván Navarro (tennis)
Iván Navarro Pastor is a professional tennis player from Spain. He is sponsored by Head and Li-Ning for his racquets and attire. He employs the serve-and-volley strategy, very much like his compatriot Feliciano López. He has a habit of changing racquets each game, using one racquet for serving and...
. In other first round matches completed on day one, Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
won his match against Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...
, the Romanian overcoming the Serbian currently ranked eight places below him in the world rankings at #56 and Italian Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi is a professional tennis player from South Tyrol, northern Italy, who turned professional in 2000. He considers clay and hard courts his favourite surfaces. and is coached by Massimo Sartori....
overcame the German Denis Gremelmayr
Denis Gremelmayr
Denis Gremelmayr is a German male tennis player. Gremelmayr turned pro in 2000 and reached #97 in August, 2006. He spent 2007 in the top 200 and finished the year at #119...
by the same scoreline. The match between Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Stakhovsky is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and had been playing mostly at the Challenger level from 2005–2008. His career high in singles of #31 and his high of #86 in doubles...
(who had just entered the top 100 at #93) and Christophe Rochus
Christophe Rochus
Christophe Rochus is a retired professional male tennis player from Belgium.Rochus is the older brother of Olivier Rochus, also a tennis player who has been slightly more successful than Christophe. He reached the singles finals of two ATP tournaments: Valencia and Rotterdam but lost them both...
became the first in the tournament to last three sets, Stakhovsky coming out on top 2–6, 6–3, 7–6(3). Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...
won his opening match against Frenchman Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy is a French professional tennis player. He won the 2005 Wimbledon Championships Boys' Singles title, and finished as the runner-up at the 2005 US Open Boys' Singles, losing to Ryan Sweeting. His career high rank is no...
7–6(2), 6–3.
Several of the first round doubles matches were also completed. Spanish wildcards and new partnership Marc López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
and world no. 1 singles player Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
overcame compatriots Óscar Hernández and Albert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...
6–3, 6–3 in just over 1 hour. They set up a quarter-final match with fourth-seeded Germans Christopher Kas
Christopher Kas
Christopher Kas is a professional German tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking is No. 224, which he reached on 4 November 2002. His career high in doubles is No. 23 set at 3 November 2008.-Doubles: 15 :...
and Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
who had beaten British pair Ross Hutchins
Ross Hutchins
Ross Dan Hutchins is a British professional tennis player, known best as a doubles player. Hutchins was born in Wimbledon, a location synonymous with tennis. Having turned professional in 2002, he enjoyed success on the Challenger circuit and broke through to the ATP Tour in late 2007...
and Andy Murray (who was also due to play Montañés in the singles tournament) 7–5, 6–4. Home-favourite Abdulla Haji, partnering Lamine Ouahab
Lamine Ouahab
Lamine Ouahab is a professional Algerian tennis player.-Career:Ouahab turned professional in 2004, when he got a wild card into the Olympics main draw....
of Algeria, lost for the second time in the day, 6–0, 6–2 against Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro is a retired French professional male tennis player from Tahiti. Though not counted among the top ranked players, he had an unusually long professional career – with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career – and he is popular among spectators and other...
and Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
. Second seeded South African duo Jeff Coetzee
Jeff Coetzee
Jeff Coetzee is a South African professional tennis player and competes regularly on the ATP tour, as a doubles specialist....
and Wesley Moodie
Wesley Moodie
Wesley Moodie is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. Wesley is now retired.-Early life and college career:...
took three sets to beat Igor Andreev
Igor Andreev
Igor Valerievich Andreev is a Russian professional tennis player, born in Moscow.-2003:Andreev made his ATP debut in September 2003 at Bucharest, Romania as a qualifier and defeated top seed Nikolay Davydenko 7–5, 6–7, 6–0 in the first round, before losing in the next round to José Acasuso.At the...
and Jaroslav Levinský
Jaroslav Levinský
Jaroslav Levinský is a professional doubles tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Mixed doubles: 1 :-Doubles: 5 :-External links:...
4–6, 6–2, 10-1 on the Champions tiebreak. In the final match of the day, Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....
and Łukasz Kubot overcame the challenge of Serbian Michal Mertiňák
Michal Mertinák
Michal Mertiňák is a professional tennis player from Slovakia. He turned professional in 1999, and has won six doubles titles in his career on the ATP Tour. He reached his career high doubles ranking of No. 35 on June 12, 2006. Mertiňák played in the 2005 Davis Cup for Slovakia, who finished...
and Italian Potito Starace
Potito Starace
Potito Starace is an Italian professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved his career-high ranking of 27th on October 15, 2007 and prefers to play on red clay...
6–2, 6–2.
- Seeded players out (singles): None
- Seeded players out (doubles): None
Day Two
Defending champion and no. 3 seed Andy Murray, fresh from his win in the Abu Dhabi exhibition event2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship
The 2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship was a non-ATP affiliated exhibition tournament. It was the first edition of the event held in Abu Dhabi, from January 1 through January 3 2009 and. Six of the world's top ten were competing in the knockout event, which had prize money of $250,000 to the...
, made a successful start to his title defence, defeating Spaniard and ATP no. 42 Albert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...
6–2, 6–4. Murray broke twice for a 5–1 lead and went 4–0 up in the second set with two further breaks and, despite an inconsistent performance, he managed to win the match. He next faces a match against Philipp Petzschner. Wildcard Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...
of Spain advanced to a second round match against Andy Roddick after overcoming Argentine player Diego Junqueira
Diego Junqueira
Diego Junqueira is a professional tennis player who plays left-handed from Argentina...
6–1, 6–2. In the clash of the Russians, Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
edged out 6th seed Igor Andreev
Igor Andreev
Igor Valerievich Andreev is a Russian professional tennis player, born in Moscow.-2003:Andreev made his ATP debut in September 2003 at Bucharest, Romania as a qualifier and defeated top seed Nikolay Davydenko 7–5, 6–7, 6–0 in the first round, before losing in the next round to José Acasuso.At the...
4–6, 6–3, 6–4, with a match against Victor Hănescu to come in round two. Qualifier Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career high singles ranking of No. 92 on April 30, 2007. His career high doubles ranking was No. 48 on January 15, 2007. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and currently resides there.In September 2008 Peya helped Austria to a Davis Cup...
, ranked at #148, scored a surprise victory over no. 7 seed, Russian Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....
2–6, 6–3, 6–4. He set up a clash with Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round. Second seed and former world no. 1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
made a strong start to his ATP Tour campaign, beating Potito Starace in straight sets 6–2, 6–2 and lining up a meeting with Andreas Seppi for a place in the quarter-finals. Top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
also had a comfortable passage into round two, dropping only 1 game in a 6–0, 6–1 thrashing of veteran Fabrice Santoro, who was still ranked at #51 but couldn't match Nadal's power. Nadal received his 2008 ATP World Tour Champion Trophy before the match, awarded to him for finishing on top of the world rankings at the end of 2008. In other matches, Belgian Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen is a former Belgian tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001.He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tournament in Munich, setting up the first ever all-Belgian men's singles final against...
reached the second round and a meeting with German Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
with a 6–1, 6–7(4), 7–6(5) against Óscar Hernández. No. 8 seed Kohlschreiber had earlier won his match against Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli
Marco Chiudinelli
Marco Chiudinelli is a tennis player from Switzerland.-Biography:Marco is the only child of father Lorenzo Chiudinelli and mother Reni, . Marco grew up in Münchenstein in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. He visited schools in Münchenstein and Basel...
6–4, 6–3.
The doubles event continued on day two, with an early result seeing Victor Hănescu, partnered by American James Cerretani
James Cerretani
James Cerretani is an American professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he has won three ATP World Tour titles in his career. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No...
, beat Victor Troicki for the second time in two days. Troicki who had also been beaten by Hănescu in the singles event, lost 6–4, 6–4, accompanied by Andreas Seppi. Top seeds Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
from Canada and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
easily progressed, losing just 4 games in a 6–3, 6–1defeat of French duo Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...
and Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder is a French male tennis player. He reached a career high singles ranking of 60 in the world on September 8, 2008, after reaching the semifinals of the Montevideo Challenger, where he lost to former top ten player, Guillermo Cañas...
who had both reached round two of the singles draw. The quarterfinal line-up was completed by Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya who knocked out third seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Fyrstenberg is a left-handed Polish professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. His current partner is Marcin Matkowski; they have been playing together since 2003....
and Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski is a right-handed Polish professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. His current partner is Mariusz Fyrstenberg; they have been playing together since 2003, he occasionally plays mixed doubles with Caroline Wozniacki.Matkowski and Fyrstenberg qualified as the eighth...
6–1, 7–6(5).
- Seeded players out (singles): Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov
- Seeded players out (doubles): Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski
Day Three
The second round in the singles draw began on day three with the top five seeds in action. In the first match of the days session, Victor HănescuVictor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
reached the quarter finals with a 6–2, 6–4 victory against Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
. Andy Murray took the court second and defeated Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...
6–2, 6–4 to take another step towards retaining his title, followed quickly after by world #1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
, who defeated Karol Beck
Karol Beck
Karol Beck is a male tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. He has been ranked as high as 36th in the world .- Career :On October 25, 2004, Beck lost in the final of the St...
6–1, 6–2 in 61 minutes. Murray next plays Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Stakhovsky is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and had been playing mostly at the Challenger level from 2005–2008. His career high in singles of #31 and his high of #86 in doubles...
, who defeated qualifier Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya
Alexander Peya is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career high singles ranking of No. 92 on April 30, 2007. His career high doubles ranking was No. 48 on January 15, 2007. He was born in Vienna, Austria, and currently resides there.In September 2008 Peya helped Austria to a Davis Cup...
7–5, 6–3. 5th-seeded wildcard Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
was also victorious 7–5, 7–6 against fellow Frenchman Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder
Nicolas Devilder is a French male tennis player. He reached a career high singles ranking of 60 in the world on September 8, 2008, after reaching the semifinals of the Montevideo Challenger, where he lost to former top ten player, Guillermo Cañas...
and will next play Nadal. 8th seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
beat Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen
Kristof Vliegen is a former Belgian tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001.He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tournament in Munich, setting up the first ever all-Belgian men's singles final against...
6–4, 6–7(4), 6–4 and he was due to face Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
who beat Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi is a professional tennis player from South Tyrol, northern Italy, who turned professional in 2000. He considers clay and hard courts his favourite surfaces. and is coached by Massimo Sartori....
6–3, 6–3. In the final match of the day, fourth seeded Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
beat wildcard Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...
6–3, 7–5.
In doubles, the quarter finals began with Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
playing his second match of the day partnering Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro is a retired French professional male tennis player from Tahiti. Though not counted among the top ranked players, he had an unusually long professional career – with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career – and he is popular among spectators and other...
against Jeff Coetzee
Jeff Coetzee
Jeff Coetzee is a South African professional tennis player and competes regularly on the ATP tour, as a doubles specialist....
and Wesley Moodie
Wesley Moodie
Wesley Moodie is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. Wesley is now retired.-Early life and college career:...
for a place in the semi-finals. Youzhny and Santoro shocked the second seeds 7–5, 7–6(2) to book their semi-final place. About 15 minutes later, top seed and ten-times Grand Slam doubles finalists Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
and Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
(twice together) started their quarter-final match with Łukasz Kubot and Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....
, emerging victorious 7–5, 6–4. Third seeds Christopher Kas
Christopher Kas
Christopher Kas is a professional German tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking is No. 224, which he reached on 4 November 2002. His career high in doubles is No. 23 set at 3 November 2008.-Doubles: 15 :...
and Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
were also knocked out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage, losing to Spanish wildcards Marc López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
. Philipp Kohlschreiber had won the tournament last year with Czech David Škoch
David Škoch
David Škoch is a professional doubles tennis player from the Czech Republic. , he has a good doubles rank and his usual doubles partner is his countryman Jaroslav Levinský.-Wins :...
.
- Seeded players out (singles): None
- Seeded players out (doubles): Jeff Coetzee/Wesley Moodie, Christopher Kas/Philipp Kohlschreiber
Day Four
All quarter-final matches in the men's draw were completed on day four. Andy RoddickAndy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
started off the action with his best performance of the week in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
. The second match of the day produced the biggest surprise of the event, as #5 seed Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
routed world #1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
6-4 6-4, facing only one break point. He was followed by world #2 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, who was heavily tested by Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
, coming back from 5-1 and 6-3 in the tiebreak to win 6-2, 7-6(6), after having led the German 6-2 4-1. The day ended with world #4 and defending champion Andy Murray cruising to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sergiy Stakhovsky is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and had been playing mostly at the Challenger level from 2005–2008. His career high in singles of #31 and his high of #86 in doubles...
in a repeat of his victory over the Ukrainian in the US Open junior's final. Murray and Federer knew they would meet for the third tournament in a row.
In the doubles, #1 team Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
& Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-7(8), 10-3 victory over James Cerretani
James Cerretani
James Cerretani is an American professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he has won three ATP World Tour titles in his career. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of World No...
& Victor Hănescu. Their opponents are Marc López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
& Rafael Nadal, who narrowly defeated Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro is a retired French professional male tennis player from Tahiti. Though not counted among the top ranked players, he had an unusually long professional career – with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career – and he is popular among spectators and other...
& Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
1-6, 7-6(2), 11-9.
- Seeded players out (singles): Rafael Nadal, Philipp Kohlschreiber
- Seeded players out (doubles): None
Day Five
The two singles semi-finals were played on day five. Gaël MonfilsGaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
was unable to continue his hot streak from the previous day's play, losing to Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3, after serving for the first set. The second semifinal saw the very anticipated matchup between defending champ Andy Murray and #2 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
. The match didn't disappoint fans, seeing plenty of memorable points, with the Brit prevailing 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2, even though Federer had 3 consecutive break points early in the second set and Murray received medical attention on his back in the third. The match ended with Federer smashing a low overhead into the net. It was the third consecutive official time that Murray prevailed, with Murray also winning an exhibition match last week; Murray extended his head to head lead to 5-2, and goes into his final with a 5-2 lead over Roddick.
In the doubles final, the world #1 team of Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
and Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
faced singles world no. 1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
and partner Marc López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
. Nestor and Zimonjić, the ATP World Tour Champions for 2008, were bidding for the seventh doubles title as a partnership. Nestor had previously won the title at Doha with Mark Knowles
Mark Knowles
Mark Knowles is a former World number 1 doubles professional male tennis player from the Bahamas, who will go down as one of the greatest athletes of his country for his longevity within his sport and charitable contributions off the court.After being awarded a scholarship to the Nick...
in 1996 and 2001. On the opposite side, Nadal and López were teaming up for the first time. Nadal had won four of his last seven doubles finals while López was appearing in his second ATP doubles final. In the final, López dropped his serve twice in the opening set but in the second, a single break sufficed for Nadal and López to level the match, from Nestor in the third game. In the deciding champions tiebreak (first to ten points), Zimonjić and Nestor led 6–5 but López and Nadal won 5 of the last seven points to seal a 4–6, 6–4, 10–8 victory.
- Seeded players out (singles): Gaël Monfils, Roger Federer
- Seeded players out (doubles): Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjić
Day Six
The only match to take place on the final day of the tournament was the singles final. World no. 4 and third seeded Briton Andy Murray took on American Andy RoddickAndy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
. Despite initial fears from Murray that he would be unfit to play after suffering from a back injury, he recovered enough to participate. The final started with four service holds before Murray broke Roddick in the fifth game for a 3–2 lead. This was followed by another in the seventh game and Murray sealed the set. In the second, Roddick just about held his opening service game but was broken in the third game of the set and then again two games later. Holding a 5–2 lead, Murray fell behind 0–30 on serve and had break point against him. However, he regained his composure and served out to win the match. In winning the tournament, Murray won his ninth career ATP title and defended the title
2008 Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The 2008 Qatar Open, known as the 2008 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, for sponsorship reasons, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 16th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour...
he won in 2008.
- Seeded players out (singles): Andy Roddick
Singles
Andy Murray def. Andy RoddickAndy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
, 6–4, 6–2
Doubles
Marc LópezMarc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
/
Rafael NadalRafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
def.
Daniel NestorDaniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
/
Nenad ZimonjićNenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
, 4–6, 6–4, [10–8]