Estoril Open News and Events

Gilles Simon

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World No. 7 Gilles Simon, a winner of five ATP World Tour titles, headlines a stellar field at the 20th Estoril Open that includes Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, James Blake and David Nalbandian.

The 24-year-old Simon was awarded a wild card by Joao Lagos, the Estoril Open Tournament Director, on Friday. It means five players in the Top 20 of the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings will compete at the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament.

Simon has a 15-11 record on the 2009 ATP World Tour season, which includes semi-final exits at Marseille (l. to Llodra) and Dubai (l. to Djokovic). He also reached the Australian Open quarter-finals (l. to Nadal).

There are four former singles champions in the 32-man draw, including Davydenko (2003), Nalbandian (2002, 2006), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2001) and wild card entry Gaston Gaudio (2005).

The draw ceremony for the ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles competitions will take place on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time.