| Thursday, 3 July 2008 Written by Sally Easton When the Masters Cup moved to Shanghai in November 2007, the eight top men players had so much more to do than play tennis. In homage to the 2,200-year-old Chinese terracotta warriors made for the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang di (pronounced Chin Shi Huang di), busts of the tennis stars were made by award-winning French sculptor Laury Dizengremel and Zhang Yaxi and Shen Xiaonan, a husband and wife team in China. Busts of the eight were made when it became known who had qualified for the Masters Cup, with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic being the first to qualify in the race. The busts were modelled in clay, cast in resin, then mounted on to the seven foot tall bodies before they were given their aged look. The real Chinese warriors are life-size and were made individually in clay, in almost microscopic detail. They were buried with the first emperor in 210-209BC. It is thought that 700,000 workers were needed for 38 years to complete the terracotta army. So far, 8,000 warriors have been unearthed. But for the eight top tennis men, the full complement of statuesque chaps is: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez and Richard Gasquet. The tennis warriors can be seen up close and personal on what, next year, will be the new No. 2 Court at Wimbledon. A new gladiatorial amphitheatre is rising from under the turf on the site of the old Court 13, in the south end of the club. To visit the tennis warriors and get a feel for what the atmosphere will be like next year when the new court is finished, the entrance to a viewing platform is at the far southern end of the partially-finished court. And while all eight “terracotta” tennis warriors are providing a guard of honour on this soon-to-be new Court No. 2, only two of the real thing are still in the Championships. In a rare following of form and seeding this year, the two are Messrs Federer and Nadal, now playing in the quarter-finals. Federer said: “These sculptures bring together culture and sport and to have the opportunity to be sculpted as a terracotta warrior was a lot of fun.” It is planned for each statue to be given to its respective lookalike once the tennis warriors have finished their tour of duty. And another thing – the Tennis Masters Cup will be coming to London in 2009.
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