STARNBERG, December 11, 2019
Fabio Fognini and John Isner will open the action at the inaugural $3 million Diriyah Tennis Cup presented by Saudi Aramco, the first ever professional tennis tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia. The event takes place from 12 to 14 December 2020.
“The Middle East is a region that has a lot of hunger for tennis and I believe we should be able to play in this region more often. It would help tennis develop and it would give players more opportunities,” Fognini said. “It is an honour to play in a new event. I am glad the organizers have chosen me to play in this new venue, which is apparently a very unique place.”
Order of play for tomorrow is out ✨ pic.twitter.com/RGvpEcl6j2
— Diriyah Tennis Cup (@DiriyahCup) December 11, 2019
The match between the Italian and the US-American will be followed by No. 2 seed Gael Monfils of France taking on Stan Wawrinka from Switzerland. Top seed and reigning ATP Finals champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia will face Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.
“Saudi will be a big part of my preparation for the new season,” Medvedev said. “Coming to Saudi the heat and conditions will be similar to Australia. It will be a great test for us. It’s in our pre-season so we’ll want to get that match time in to prepare for the new season – but the fans should expect us to fight hard like in any tournament. It will be competitive and hopefully they’ll be lots of fans coming to support us there. Hopefully I can play some great tennis, help the country raise awareness of the sport and inspire people to play. Looking at the players confirmed it’s a really great field. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Saudi Arabia. I’m excited to promote tennis there especially as it’s the first tournament.”
In the final match on Thursday, No. 3 seed David Goffin will play Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
Diriyah is a UNESCO World Tennis Heritage Site and will host the hard-court event at the Diryah Arena. The tournament is part of the Diriyah Season, an epic month of showcase sports events being hosted by the GSA.
