World #1 Rafael Nadal headlines a bumper field of players coming to Bangkok to compete in the PTT Thailand Open from 25 September – 3 October at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani.

     Reigning US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro, Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez and Latvian rising star Ernests Gulbis had already confirmed their participation in the USD608,500 event but are now joined by more of tennis’ top names including world #15 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez ranked #24, Thailand Open 2007 runner up German Benjamin Becker, and last year’s finalist Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

     Joining the world’s top players and former finalists are other Bangkok favourites: #59 ranked Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain ranked #44, #48 Philipp Petzschner of Germany and Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev of Argentina.

     A number of top players will be joining the PTT Thailand Open for the first time: #52 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina,  Jeremy Chardy and Florent Serra of France and fast-rising Dutch star Thiemo de Bakker who has risen from outside the top 200 to #50 in a little over a year, have all confirmed they will participate in the tournament for the first time.

     "We are again delighted to have such a strong field of players competing for the King’s Cup at the PTT Thailand Open," said tournament Executive Committee Chairman Suwat Lipatapanlop. "Thai tennis fans are in for a fantastic nine days of tennis action."

     The main singles draw of the PTT Thailand Open will feature 28 players including three wildcards that have yet to be announced and four players who successfully come through the qualifying rounds. The Draw Ceremony for the tournament will be held at Impact Arena at 2pm on Saturday 25 September and this year will be open to the public for the first time in the tournament’s history.

     Tickets for the PTT Thailand Open start at just Bt300 and are available from all Thaiticketmajor outlets, by calling 02 262 3838, or by logging on to www.thaiticketmajor.com