Australian Mark Philippoussis, former world number one Marcelo Rios of Chile and American-Chinese Michael Chang complete a strong lineup for next month's Salem Open, which tournament director Lincoln Venancio described as 'the toughest field the event has ever had'.
The trio will join other top players, who had been announced earlier, including reigning US Open champion Marat Safin of Russia, Spanish star Juan Carlos Ferrero, former world number one Magnus Norman of Sweden, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and American teenager Andy Roddick for the September 22-30 event at Victoria Park.
While the event wil be missing some Grand Slam champions like Andre Agassi, Pat Rafter, Gustavo Kuerten and Goran Ivanisevic, Venancio said: 'It's the toughest field we've ever had. Apart from top players like Safin and Ferrero, we have a great variety of players in terms of styles and personalities. I think we have a good mix in the field.'
Philippoussis, dubbed 'Scud' because of his powerful serve, is bidding to take a step farther after losing to German Nicolas Kiefer in the final last year.
'I had a great week in Hong Kong last year, beating Sergi Bruguera in the quarters and Pat [Rafter] in the semis. I like the conditions in Hong Kong and I would really like to win it this year,' said Philippoussis, who has won once at Memphis this year.
Rios, who became the first South American to be ranked world number one in 1998, hopes to make up for his second-round defeat here last year. Former French Open champion and three-time Salem Open winner Chang also hopes the SAR fans will keep on supporting him following his quarter-final defeat to Briton Tim Henman last year.