Tennis Masters Cup and Andy

As Andy makes his final preparations for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, which begins on Sunday, AndyRoddick.com looks back at Andy’s history in the prestigious event, one that he has now qualified for five years in a row.

Shanghai is hosting the elite-eight man event for the third straight year and will conclude as host next year before the event moves to London in 2009. The Tennis Masters Cup changes its location ever couple of years, and prior to moving to China, the event had been staged in such locations as Houston, Sydney, Lisbon and Germany.

Andy made his Masters Cup debut in 2003, the year he won the US Open (defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final) and finished year-end World No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. The event was held in Houston, Texas providing Andy with plenty of home support, which carried him all the way to the semifinals where he lost out to eventual champion Roger Federer.

Andy returned to Houston a year later ranked second in the ATP Rankings and once again made it through to the semifinals; however fell to then World No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt.

Due to injury, Andy was unable to take up his place in 2005 when the tournament moved to Shanghai, but he delighted Chinese fans by making the trip at the end of last year. Although Andy didn’t make it past the group stages, he thrilled the crowds with an outstanding performance against Roger Federer in a match during which he held match points before succumbing to the Swiss World No. 1 in three sets.

Despite only being able to play once this Fall since the Davis Cup semifinals in September, Andy will be giving it his all this year Shanghai against a strong field which consists of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez and Richard Gasquet.

The format of the Tennis Masters Cup sees the eight man field split into two groups of four, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal heading the groups. Andy has been placed in the Red Group along with Roger Federer, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Gonzalez, while young guns Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer form the Gold Group. Each player will compete in three Round Robin matches in the group stages, with the top two players from each group advancing to the semifinals, and two ultimately through to the final.

This year, the Shanghai qualifiers have been honored by being cast as Chinese Terracotta Warriors, created by French sculptor Laury Dizengremel, which will be unveiled all together as a group in Shanghai.

The main event gets underway on Sunday, November 11 at the Qi Zhong Stadium in Shanghai.

Stay tuned to AR.com for all the latest from Shanghai.

Go Andy!