Help
3/10/09 5:07 AM | Ricky Dimon
Americans Taylor Dent and John Isner lead a group of five wildcard entrants into this week's ATP Masters Series event in Indian Wells, California.
Big-serving Americans Taylor Dent and John Isner were granted wild cards into the first Masters Series event of the 2009 ATP season, which begins in Indian Wells on Thursday.
Five wildcard recipients, 12 qualifiers, and 79 direct entries comprise the field of 96, which makes Indian Wells--along with the Masters Series Miami later this month--the biggest tournament outside of the four Grand Slams.
In addition to Dent and Isner, Wayne Odesnik, Ryan Sweeting, and Kevin Anderson also got into the BNP Paribas Open main draw with wild cards.
John Isner - The 6'9'' American reached a career-high ranking of 81st in the world in April of 2008, but he is now laboring at No. 147 in the rankings. Isner, a college standout at the University of Georgia, made headlines with a memorable summer of 2007 in which he finished runner-up to Andy Roddick at the Legg Mason Classic and took a set off Roger Federer in the third round of the U.S. Open. While he is slumping right now, Isner is always dangerous on hard courts with his massive serve.
Taylor Dent - After being forced into early retirement by a series of devastating injuries, Dent returned to the ATP Tour last summer and has managed to stay healthy so far. The former No. 21 player in the world needs wild cards to get into the main draws of tournaments because the time off has left him way down at 533rd in the rankings. With a clean bill of health, Dent has won two matches at the ATP level in 2009. He also qualified for the Delray Beach main draw last month, but went out in the first round.
Ryan Sweeting - Sweeting heads into Indian Wells ranked No. 170 in the world, one spot off his career high. Almost exclusively a Challenger player, Sweeting is showing signs of improvement early in 2009. He has a title and a semifinal finish at the Challenger level and most recently qualified for the Delray Beach main draw. Sweeting has tasted Masters Series success before, qualifying for the 2008 Masters Series Miami main draw and reaching the second round.
Wayne Odesnik - The 23-year-old American has not won a match at the ATP level yet this season, but he has recorded 18 wins throughout his career. Odesnik has amassed plenty more wins on the Challenger circuit, including a title earlier this year in Carson, California. The No. 93 player in the world has never enjoyed much success in Masters Series events, but he does have big-match experience. Odsenik reached the third round of the 2008 French Open after ousting Guillermo Canas in the first round.
Kevin Anderson - The 6'8'' South African exploded onto the ATP scene last spring with a runner-up performance at the now-defunct Tennis Channel Open and a stunning upset of Novak Djokovic at the Masters Series Miami. Just as Isner endured a "sophomore slump" in 2008, this former University of Illinois start has not enjoyed the same success early in 2009. Ranked No. 141, he failed to qualify for two ATP events and lost in the first round of two others, including most recently in front of a home crowd in Johannesburg.
Tell a friend »
Ginepri withdrew from Delray Beach with a nagging hip as far as I know, he has an elbow injury too? Ferrero has a leg injury, but I dont know the exact problem.
orion , 3/10/09 9:34 PM
Scan QR code to access Unibet mobile.
Bet on Sports wherever you are and whenever you like, with Unibet's quick and simple mobile client you can place bets, check results and see live odds.
For more info about QR codes & scanners click here.
Contact us
/ About us
/ Cookies
/ Recommended links
/ Advertise
/ Sitemap
Tennistalk v1.5.0
Disclaimer © 2001-2012, Moneytainment Media Ltd - All rights reserved
Players in the top 79 who are not playing (also if anyone knows their respective reasons for not playing, please add):
Nicolas Almagro (not sure, maybe doesn't want to play on hard courts)
Carlos Moya (not sure)
Robby Ginepri (not sure but probably elbow)
Juan Monaco (not sure but he is often injured)
Fabrice Santoro (not sure)
Philipp Petzschner (left wrist)
Juan Carlos Ferrer (not sure but certainly injured)
Agustin Calleri (not sure)
replacements: Haas, Gremelmayr, Zverev, Spadea, Stakhovsky, Massu, Lapentti, Fognini
RickyDimon , 3/10/09 2:24 PM