THE world's top two players, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras, and local crowd favourite Michael Chang spearhead the strongest field ever assembled for a tennis tournament in Hongkong at next month's Salem Open.
Organisers announced the line-up yesterday for the US$300,000 event and the 23 players who gain direct entry into the 32-strong draw are all ranked in the world's top 88 on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) computer.
World number one Courier, number two Sampras and seventh-ranked Chang are joined in the line-up by their fellow American and fourth seed Brad Gilbert (ranked 30), Israel's Amos Mansdorf (37), Russian Andrei Cherkasov (41), New Zealand's Brett Steven (43),American David Wheaton (49) and Dutchman Jan Siemerink (50) from the world's top 50.
Also included are Danish teenager Kenneth Carlsen, who has risen 967 places in the past 12 months to number 51 on the ranking list, American Davis Cup player Jim Grabb, Japan's Shuzo Matsuoka and the Australian trio of Richard Fromberg, Todd Woodbridge and Sandon Stolle.
The event will be played at Victoria Park from April 12 to 18.
Tournament director Marcus Stapleton said: ''Last year we broke new ground by having the world's number one player in an official ranking tournament in Hongkong and this time we have another first with the number one and two in Courier and Sampras.
