Four out of Nine

Lleyton Hewitt announced his withdrawal from the Tennis Masters Cup yesterday due to the impending birth of his firstborn with wife Bec Cartwright, and this paved the way for Gaston Gaudio to enter the field as well. With Andy Roddick's withdrawal (made official just an hour ago), David Nalbandian enters the eight-man field and Mariano Puerta becomes the alternate.

From the Tennis Masters Cup website:
"Though I have tried to continue with practice, the lower back spasms continue," said Roddick. "After being evaluated by medical staff upon my return to the United States, it is now clear that I am not able to resume tennis-activities for 10-14 days.

"I apologize to the loyal fans and sponsors that have expected my participation in Tennis Masters Cup. It is an honor for me to have qualified for this event for the third-straight year. I realize the tremendous amount of time and effort the ATP and the Chinese government have spent on the event, and know it will be a huge success. I look forward to getting healthy, starting my off-season workouts for the 2006 season, and working towards qualifying for Shanghai next year."

The Masters Cup field now looks like this:

• Roger Federer (SUI)
• Rafael Nadal (ESP)
• Marat Safin (RUS) -- out due to injury
• Andy Roddick (USA) -- out due to injury
• Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) -- out due to personal reasons
• Andre Agassi (USA)
• Guillermo Coria (ARG)
• Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
• Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)
• Gaston Gaudio (ARG)
• David Nalbandian (ARG)
• alternate: Mariano Puerta (ARG)

All in all, this means that four out of the nine players in Shanghai are from Argentina. Quite a coup, I must say. I don't think they even expected it themselves, although the South American press got ahold of this news way before the Masters Cup organizers announced it.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 11:10 AM