GENEVA, May 17, 2015

The ATP World Tour returns to Geneva for the first time since 1991. The event has been relocated from Düsseldorf by the licence holders Ion Tiriac and Rainer Schüttler and will be held at the Tennis Club Genève at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, the oldest and largest tennis club in Switzerland.

World number nine Stanislaw Wawrinka leads the inaugural edition of the Geneva Open bidding to win his tenth ATP title and third of the season following victories in Rotterdam and Chennai. Like all of the top-four-seed, the Lausanne native receives a bye in the opening round to face either Yen-Hsun Lu or a qualifier for his first match at home. Wawrinka will remain the only local player in the main draw, if Yann Marti does not make it through the qualifying.

Geneva’s second seed Marin Cilic received a wild card to play his only sixth tournament of the season. The reigning US-Open champion was sidelined from the courts due to shoulder injury. Cilic will face the winner of the encounter between Andrey Rublev, who also was granted a wild card, and Jarkko Nieminen.

Pablo Andújar is the tournament’s third favourite. The 29-year-old Spaniard reached the final at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona but was forced to retire in his second round match in Munich the following week due to muscular problems. Andújar suffered a first round exit in Madrid and will take on Carlos Berlocq or a qualifier in his opening match in Switzerland.

Former world number eight Janko Tipsarevic continues his comeback from foot surgery. The Serbian returned to action in Houston in April and has won three matches in four tournaments so far, but was forced to withdraw from the ATP Challenger in Heilbronn last week due to another injury. Tipsarevic is scheduled to take on Denis Istomin in Geneva’s first round.