From correspondents in Federal Territory, Malaysia, 09:00 PM IST

Kuala Lumpur has returned to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Asian calendar after an absence of over a decade with a field featuring two Top 10 players and French Open finalist Robin Soderling.

The event from Sep 28 also boasts world No.8 and Australian Open semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco, number 10 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile and French crowd-pleaser Gael Monfils.

Soderling, who lost to Roger Federer in the Roland Garros final, made his final decision in dramatic fashion in a late telephone call from Wimbledon which arrived during a speech at the Friday presentation by Malaysia's prime minister.

Also playing: Nikolay Davydenko, Spain's David Ferrer and Japanese number one Kei Nishikori, currently out with an elbow injury.

The Malaysian Open will be held at the 16,000-seat Putra Stadium in the capital. It is the fifth event of the autumn Asian swing and will double-up with the Thailand Open, held the same week.

Events in Tokyo and Beijing and the Shanghai Masters 1,000 follow.

'There is great demand for cities to host ATP events and in particular within the Asian region,' said ATP International head Brad Drewett.

'Asian tennis fans have demonstrated that they are among the best in the world and we are excited that tennis fans across Malaysia now have the opportunity to see some of the world's best players battling it out in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.'

Marcelo Rios of Chile won the KL tournament in a previous incarnation in 1995.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)