The forthcoming Valencia Open 500 ATP World Tour will have a star-studded line-up that is unprecedented since it first attained ATP 500 category in 2009. British player Andy Murray (11) has now officially confirmed that he will accept the wild card offered by the tournament’s organisers, thus joining an elite line-up featuring no less than fourtop 10 players: David Ferrer (5), Kei Nishikori (6), Tomas Berdych (7) and Marin Cilic (9), not to mention another14 players in the world’s top 25.

This is the third time that the Scottish player is appearing at the Agora: in 2009 he became the first champion of the Valencia Open 500 ATP World Tour in the singles category, defeating the current holder, Russian Mikhail Youzhny (6-3, 6-2). In 2010, his second appearance, he won the ‘Guardian of the Agora’ title in the doubles tournament with his brother Jamie, beating the pair formed by Bhupati and Mirnyi (7-6, 5-7, 10-7).

So far in his career the Dunblane native has won a total of 29 ATP titles in singles matches, most notably nine Masters 1000 and two Grand Slams (the US Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013). This year Murray has recently won the ATP 250 in Shenzhen.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the director of the Valencia Open 500 ATP World Tour, announced his delight at the inclusion of the Scottish player: “If we were already thrilled with the inclusion of so many great players this year, the confirmation from Andy Murray has really put the icing on the cake. I urge all tennis fans to come to the tournament because watching such top-class tennis players in action is a really unique experience and we’re very proud to have them all here”.

All preparations in place for Saturday

Juan Carlos Ferrerowelcomed the media today at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, the venue that will be hosting the Valencia Open 500 ATP World Tour from next week. The tournament’s director visited the venue and supervised the progress of work along with David Serrahima, the executive director, and the journalists covering the event.

Ferrero described his feelings just three days away from the start of the tournament: “Everything’s ready for the opening, and we’re very excited and really looking forward to it. It’s all gone perfectly so far and now all that’s left is for the players to take their positions on the courts and for the fans to enjoy their performance,” he concluded.