Federer, Nadal to be cast in stone for Shanghai spectacular

[TENNIS] SHANGHAI - Eight current tennis titans led by Roger Federer are being cast as classic Chinese warriors in terracotta in time for a mass unveiling at November's Masters Cup season wrap-up event.

 ATP marketing minds may be slightly stretching a point, but the innovative idea seems to sit well with Federer and world number two rival Rafael Nadal, among those who had their facial measurements and photographs taken during the August event in Montreal by a French sculptor.

 "It's always one of the goals you set at beginning of the year, trying to be there with the other top seven or eight players, to battle it out," he said of the November 11-18 season wrap-up.

 "I've had some great Masters Cups in my career, it's always been one of the highlights of the year.

 "Being sculpted as a Terracotta Warrior is an honour, I think the idea is fun, bringing together culture and sport, and I'm looking forward to seeing the final result."

   Added Nadal: "Anything that promotes tennis in a very important market like China is good.

 "The Masters Cup is the last tournament of the season, and is special because you play against the best, so I'm very happy to have qualified for Shanghai."

   The life-size warrior statues will be created by French sculptor Laury Dizengremel in China and will be unveiled all together as a group at the event in Shanghai.

 The Terracotta Warriors are symbolic of China's history and internationally recognised around the world.

 The Terracotta Army was originally created to be buried with the Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC and it is believed to have taken some 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete.

 The Army was only rediscovered in 1974 and 8,099 figures have since been unearthed around the Emperor's tomb. The site in China has become a major tourist attraction with nearly two million people visiting annually.

 Federer and Nadal along with US Open finalist Novak Djokovic have qualified for Shanghai, with five more spots still being contested over the final five weeks of the season.

 The actual Terracotta Warriors will be on show to the public at the British Museum in London, an exhibition comprising the largest collection of the Terracotta Army ever shown outside China.

DPA