World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and defending champion Roger Federer will compete at the 2014 edition of the Gerry Weber Open, to be held 9-15 June in Halle. The ATP World Tour 250 grass-court event will feature its strongest field in tournament history.
“We are happy about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, two legends of this sport,” said Tournament Director Ralf Weber. “It will be a thrilling showdown of the top two players, but with some strong competition. This shows with the cutoff because with only players in the Top 53 in the world, we have the best collective [Emirates ATP Ranking] of all time for the main field.”
In addition to Nadal and Federer, the entry list includes two-time champion Tommy Haas, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, returning finalist Mikhail Youzhny and Jerzy Janowicz.
“The road to the tournament victory has gotten much more difficult in recent years because there are so many top players in the field,” said six-time champion Federer, who will be making his 12th tournament appearance. “The spectators can look forward to an extremely strong tournament, I am certain of that.”
Nadal will be making his third main draw appearance in Halle, and reached the quarter-finals on his last visit in 2012. “I urgently want to have a successful start to the grass court season. Halle is a tremendously organised tournament with a great audience. Everybody wants to play their best tennis,” he said.
The Gerry Weber Open will be recategorised as an ATP World Tour 500 tournament in 2015, along with the Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club in London.
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