Baghdatis, Klizan To Join Thiem In Sofia

The ATP World Tour announced the final list with the participants in the main draw for Garanti Koza Sofia Open’s second edition. The tournament will be held in “Arena Armeec” in the Bulgarian capital 5-12 February 2017.

The hosts and organisers are expecting extremely strong competition in February. The Sofia field includes 11 players in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings: Dominic Thiem (No. 8), David Goffin (No. 11), Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 14), Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov (No. 17), Viktor Troicki (No. 29), Philipp Kohlschreiber (No. 32), Gilles Muller (No. 34), Martin Klizan (No. 35), Marcos Baghdatis (No. 36), Nicolas Almagro (No. 44) and Andrey Kuznetsov (No. 46).

“It will be a really world-class tournament and the fans will enjoy great tennis throughout the whole week in Sofia,” said the tournament director Paul McNamee.

The draw will include 21 direct entries, along with three wild cards and four qualifiers. Included in this field are the four semi-finalists from last year’s inaugural tournament: champion Bautista Agut, runner-up Troicki, and semi-finalists Muller and Klizan.

Two former Top 10 players – Marcos Baghdatis and Nicolas Almagro, will make their debut in Sofia in 2017.

Baghdatis reached a career-high No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in August 2006, the same year he reached the Australian Open final (l. to Federer). The 31-years old owns four ATP World Tour trophies from 13 finals. The Spaniard Almagro climbed to No. 9 in the rankings in May 2011. He owns 13 titles.

Here is the Official Garanti Koza Sofia Open 2017 entry list:

1. Dominic Thiem (AUT)
2. David Goffin (BEL)
3. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP)
4. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
5. Viktor Troicki (SRB)
6. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)
7. Gilles Muller (LUX)
8. Martin Klizan (SVK)
9. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
10. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)
11. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS)
12. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
13. Robin Haase (NED)
14. Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
15. Damir Dzumhur (BIH)
16. John Millman (AUS)
17. Steve Darcis (BEL)
18. Andreas Seppi (ITA)
19. Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO)
20. Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
21. Dudi Sela (ISR)