Roddick Highlights Strong Legg Mason Field
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009; 2:35 PM
With more prize money and ranking points at stake, Washington's Legg Mason Tennis Classic has attracted its strongest field in years, highlighted by commitments from four of the world's top 10 players.
Joining top American Andy Roddick, who in April announced his intent to compete for his fourth Legg Mason title, are defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, currently ranked sixth in the world; ninth-ranked Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France; and 10th ranked Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
Tournament director Jeff Nelson confirmed the commitments in a telephone interview from Wimbledon Tuesday.
Other top names due in town: Roddick's U.S. Davis Cup teammates James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan, who missed last year's event to compete in the Beijing Olympics. They'll be joined by former world No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt and Juan Carlos Ferrero; Gael Monfils; Tommy Haas; Tomas Berdych; and Americans Mardy Fish and Sam Querrey.
The unusually deep, accomplished field is the result of the tournament's recent designation as an ATP World Tour 500 event (placing it among the top 20 men's tournaments worldwide). That new status nearly triples the number of ranking points collected by the winner (from 175 to 500). Tournament officials also increased the purse. While Del Potro earned $80,000 for winning the 2008 Legg Mason title, this year's victor will pocket $300,000.
"Our hope was to create an unprecedented player field that was strong from top to bottom," Newman said.
The Legg Mason Tennis Classic will be held Aug. 1-9 at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park.
