The Valencia Open 500 ATP World Tour has already signed up its stars and this year presents one of its best-ever line-ups, though there are still a few more players to be confirmed before the tournament starts. The ATP has announced the official list of players at the event, whose courts within theCiudad de las Artes y las Ciencias will be welcoming 12 of the top 25 players on the circuit between 18 and 26 October, a list headed by the world number five, David Ferrer. 

Behind the Alicante player there is a whole roster of internationally-renowned stars, most notably Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori, the finalistsat the recent US Open. The Croatian player is cruising to the end of the best season of his career, having won his first Grand Slam plus two other titles at Delray Beach and Zagreb and getting through to the finals in Rotterdam. These results have catapulted him to his best-ever ranking (9). The same can be said of the Japanese player, who is now ranked eighth after winning in Barcelona and Memphis and getting to the finals of the Madrid Masters 1000 and the US Open. 

John Isner (16), Fabio Fognini (17), Kevin Anderson (19), Alexandr Dolgopolov (23), Philipp Kohlschreiber (24) and Leonardo Mayer (25) are some of the other players who will be fighting for the title, along with the ‘Spanish Armada’ comprising Roberto Bautista (15), Feliciano López (20), Fernando Verdasco (34) and Tommy Robredo (22). Bautista, in particular, is having a really outstanding year, having won his first two ATP titles in Stuttgart and Hertogenbosch. Meanwhile, ‘Feli’ López clinched the title in Eastbourne while Tommy Robredo won the final in Umag. 

The current Valencia Open champion, Mikhail Youzhny, will be back in the Agora to defend the title he won last year against David Ferrer. The Russian will most definitely be one of the ones to watch in Valencia as he has performed outstandingly both times he has played in the tournament: last year as champion and in 2009 as a finalist.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, “pleased and happy” 

The director of the Valencia Open 500 ATP World Tour said he was “pleased and happy” about this year’s line-up. “We’ve got the best line-up we’ve ever had, closing off participation within the Top 40 and featuring players who are really popular with spectators such as Ferrer, Cilic and Nishikori, who were such a big revelation in New York, and Youzhny, the current champion, plus the other Spanish players who are always up for everything… We’re going to have a really great tournament,” confirms the former world number one, who is urging tennis fans to come to the Valencian event. “We’re organizing one of the best indoor tournaments in the world, featuring experienced tennis players as well as a new generation of up-and-coming young talents who will give us plenty to talk about,” he said.