Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick will headline the player field for the 2008 Countrywide Classic which will be contested Aug. 4-10 at UCLA. This will mark the fourth appearance in Los Angeles for Roddick, the 2003 US Open champion.
"I'm excited to play LA," Roddick said. "It's a great tournament to play, and a fun city to be in. I'm looking forward to heading there in August."
Roddick made his Countrywide Classic debut in 2001, but fell in the opening round to World No. 2 Marat Safin in the first round. The following year, Roddick posted his best result in the tournament, advancing to the semifinals before falling to fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill. In 2006, Roddick won two matches before having to withdraw due to injury prior to his quarterfinal match against eventual finalist Dmitry Tursunov. In doubles, Roddick reached the finals in 2001 with Gambill.
"Andy is not only the top American tennis player, but one of the top sports personalities in the world," Tournament Director Bob Kramer said. "We are thrilled to have a great champion like Andy headlining our tournament field in 2008. We are very excited for this year's event to get underway in August."
Roddick is 24-5 in 2008, and is ranked No. 6 in the World. In 2007, Roddick was undefeated in singles rubbers to lead the United States to its first Davis Cup title since 1995, and will carry a nine-match Davis Cup winning streak into the semifinals this September against Spain. Roddick stands fourth among active players for ATP titles won in the Open Era with 25, including 2008 championships in San Jose and Dubai. He trails only Roger Federer (54), Rafael Nadal (26) and Lleyton Hewitt (26).
A two-time Olympus US Open Series champion, Roddick owns nine ATP titles during the summer hardcourt season. In addition to claiming the 2003 US Open title, Roddick has appeared in the 2006 US Open final as well as the Wimbledon final in both 2004 and 2005. Roddick spent 13 weeks ranked No. 1 in the World in late 2003 and early 2004.
Roddick will be one of four former World No. 1s appearing at the 2008 Countrywide Classic. Former No. 1s John McEnroe, Jim Courier and Mats Wilander, who together own 18 career Grand Slam singles titles, will take part in the Legends Event during this year's tournament along with former Countrywide Classic tournament champions Wayne Ferreira, Aaron Krickstein and Mikael Pernfors.