Lapentti tops tennis line-up
The final place in the main draw was filled last night with a new number one seed - Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti.
The 27-year-old, whose brother Giovanni is also in the 32-man main draw which starts on Monday, has been inside the top ten and can boast of victories over such luminaries as Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Gustavo Kuerten and Tim Henman in his time.
Lapentti, now ranked 62 in the world, will be making his fourth visit to the Island but is in a strong position to improve on his best finish, a semi-final defeat in 1999.
The Davis Cup player, given a wildcard for the tournament, will now be the favourite to claim the XL Open trophy and replaces Canadian-turned-Brit Greg Rusedski as the biggest name to compete in the 2004 instalment of the annual Coral Beach tennis festival.
Lapentti, an honorary ambassador of Ecuador in 1999 with career earnings of more than $4 million, may also feature in the doubles with his 21-year-old younger brother, who returns here after the ignominy of a qualifying default after turning up late for his match when just a 15-year-old.
“I am hoping for a better time this year,” said Giovanni, who has never faced his brother in singles in a tournament before.
“We have been in many tournaments together, so I hope we can be at either end of the draw so I can meet him in a final.
“We might play double together but I need to speak to him about that. We have played together in Davis Cup for years but I haven't had a chance to ask him if he wants to play with me this time as he only confirmed very late that he will be coming here.
“It will be fun to be in the tournament together, we are very close friends now but when things start, he plays his games and I play mine.”
Another player to be extended a wildcard is American teenager Phillip Simmonds.
The 18-year-old, who began playing tennis at the age of three, is ranked 18 in the world junior rankings and is a Grand Slam junior winner, taking the 2003 Australian Open title with Brian Baker.
This year, in singles, he won the Casablanca Cup and was the runner-up in the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica.
The action gets underway today at 9 a.m. when more than 20 players compete for the right to play in Monday's main draw in the $100,000 Challenger tournament.
Due to the unprecedented interest in the event, organisers have been forced to operate a 32-man draw in the qualifiers meaning some players will have to win three matches this weekend for the right to take on the big boys during the main event.
Ticket sales have been going well for the event, with organisers predicting the usual large crowds down at Coral Beach for Bermuda's Wimbledon.
Entry is free over the weekend and play is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m.
A junior clinic will be held tomorrow from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. at Coral Beach. Select overseas professionals will be joining Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association president David Lambert to give expert tuition to some of Bermuda's young, budding, tennis enthusiasts - about 100 juniors are expected to take part.