The Hindu : Sport : Nadal leads a strong field for Chennai Open

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007
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Nadal leads a strong field for Chennai Open

Sports Reporter

Chennai: World No.2 Rafael Nadal will lead the 32-player field for the 2008 Chennai Open ATP tennis tournament, which will be held at the Nungambakkam Stadium from December 31 to January 6, 2008.

Four top-20 players (Nadal, Marcos Baghdatis, Carlos Moya and Mikhail Youzhny) will feature in the $436,000 event, with defending champion Xavier Malisse also confirming his participation.

“This is arguably the strongest line-up we’ve had for the Chennai Open. The field boasts of four top-20 players and a few others who are and have been in the top-50,” said Balu Nayar, Managing Director, IMG India (tournament owner and organiser), at a press conference on Monday. There are a total of five top-50 players, and 15 top-100 men.

The 13th edition of the tournament will offer a prize money of $68,800 for the singles winner and 175 ATP ranking points.

The runner-up will receive $37,350 and 120 points. The three wildcards will be announced shortly after discussions with the All India Tennis Association. Four spots will be up for grabs for qualifiers, when the qualifying rounds take place on December 29 and 30.

“The Chennai Open has the reputation of being the best managed tournament in India. The tournament has set a benchmark that has been unparalleled. An event can be judged based on how often players come back, and that has been the feature of this tournament,” said AITA Vice-president N. Kumar.

The player field: Rafael Nadal (Spain, World No. 2), Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus, 16), Carlos Moya (Spain, 17), Mikhail Youzhny (Russia, 19), Xavier Malisse (Belgium, 112), Nicolas Mahut (France, 45), Jurgen Melzer (Austria, 60), Werner Eschauer (Austria, 66), Marc Gicquel (France, 70), Marin Cilic (Croatia, 71), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain, 90), Florent Serra (France, 91), Thierry Ascione (France, 94), Fabio Fognini (Italy, 95), Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France, 97), Kristof Vliegen (Belgium, 98), Jiri Vanek (Czech Republic, 101).

Paul Capdeville (Chile, 102), Olivier Patience (France, 107), Robin Haase (The Netherlands, 113), Ivan Navarro (Spain, 123), Gilles Muller (Luxembourg, 117), Mathieu Montcourt (France, 122), Denis Gremelmayr (Germany, 119), Yuri Schukin (Russia, 121).

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