Tennis fans to get discount tickets

Thailand Open organizers today announced that ticket-holders for all matches would be eligible for the discount.

The announcement follows the unforeseeable last-minute withdrawal of crowd favorite Andy Roddick, citing a left ankle injury. The withdrawal took place moments before his scheduled match on center court on Wednesday night.

This year's Thailand Open has been hit by a number of withdrawals, including top seeds Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Chaiyapak Siriwat, chairman of the Thailand Open Organizing Committee, said such withdrawals were an unfortunate reality of world-class professional tennis.

"Tennis is a tough game, and injuries do occur," he said. "We have been relatively lucky in past years not to have had any major pull-outs at the last minute. This year that has not been the case."

In keeping with tournaments all over the world, there is a no-refund policy for tennis fans who have already purchased their tickets. However today it was announced that as a goodwill gesture, ticket holders for this year's tournament would receive a 25 per cent discount on the price of next year's tournament tickets.

ATP International CEO Brad Drewett praised the Thailand Open for this move, saying such withdrawals were beyond the control of the organizers.

"The Thailand Open remains a premier event on the ATP calendar. Such withdrawals will not tarnish the reputation of this event that has had consistently great players participating for many years," he said today.

ATP Tournament Director Allon Khakshouri added that despite the withdrawals, the Thailand Open still featured a stronger field than many other ATP events. "We expect many more exciting matches this week," he said.

The Thailand Open 2007 is currently being held at Muang Thong Thani until this Sunday.

For further details on the ticket discounts, please go to thaiticketmajor.com.