The Hindu : Sport : Big names to battle it out in Chennai Open

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Big names to battle it out in Chennai Open

Sports Reporter

Bryan twins will be making their first appearance

CHENNAI: World No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko will lead the Chennai Open field, which includes eight top-50 players, when the $450,000 event commences at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium on January 5.

Besides Davydenko, the 14th edition of the Chennai Open will feature the likes of World No. 13 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, former champions Carlos Moya and Ivan Ljubicic, 2008 semifinalist Marin Cilic of Croatia, another Croatian Ivo Karlovic, tournament regular Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Serb Janko Tipsarevic.

There will be a total of 15 top-100 players in the field this time.

The Chennai Open will also see the return of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes who will play with their respective partners — Mark Knowles (Bahamas) and Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) — in the doubles event. Multiple Slam winners Mike and Bob Bryan will be making their first appearance.

The other Indians in the fray include Somdev Devvarman and Prakash Amritraj who have been handed wildcards. The week-long tournament will be telecast live on Zee Sports.

Strong field

Ravi Krishnan, Advisor, IMG India, said in a statement announcing the field that “this is arguably one of the most open and competitive line-ups we have had at the Chennai Open. An interesting point to note is that we have five players who have been in the top 10 in their careers — Davydenko, Wawrinka, Ljubicic, Moya and Schuettler. This field demonstrates the strength of the Chennai Open and its position as the premier tennis event in this part of the world.”

Apart from the Government of Tamil Nadu, the consortium of sponsors includes Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, United India Insurance, Indian Oil Corporation and BSNL in the platinum category and Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Larsen & Toubro, Murugappa Group, TVS Group (Sundaram Finance) and Steel Authority of India in the gold category.

Growing in popularity

V. Narayanan, President, Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), said “the Chennai Open, which is now in its 14th year, has undoubtedly become South Asia’s largest global sporting event. The tournament has been growing in popularity every year and is establishing itself as the springboard for future champions.

“It is also playing a significant role in the development of the State of Tamil Nadu. We are thankful to all the sponsors for their support to this mega event,” he added.

The field: Nikolay Davydenko (Russia, World No. 5), Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui, 13), Marin Cilic (Cro, 23), Ivo Karlovic (Cro, 26), Rainer Schuettler (Ger, 33), Carlos Moya (Esp, 42), Ivan Ljubicic (Cro, 44), Janko Tipsarevic (Srb, 49), Marcel Granollers (Esp, 56), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp, 62), Fabio Fognini (Ita, 88), Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Esp, 90), Roko Karanusic (Cro, 91), Ivo Minar (Cze, 99), Alberto Martin (Esp, 100), Pablo Andujar (Esp, 101), Denis Istomin (Uzb, 105), Andreas Beck (Ger, 109), Dudi Sela (Isr, 112), Wayne Odesnik (USA, 119), Bjorn Phau (Ger, 120), Kevin Kim (USA, 117), Hyung-Taik Lee (Kor, 107), Go Soeda (Jpn, 114), Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Esp, 121), WC Lukas Dlouhy (Cze, 184), WC Somdev Dev Varman (Ind, 205) and WC Prakash Amritraj (Ind, 211).

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