The New Year in Chennai is set to begin on a very exciting note and tennis enthusiasts in India can once again look forward to some riveting tennis action. Chennai Open , India 's only ATP International Series Tennis event is now in an unprecedented 14th year and will be played at the SDAT Tennis Stadium at Nungambakam, Chennai from Jan 5 till Jan 11, 2009. The qualifying rounds will be held on Jan 3-4, 2009. With increased prize money at stake, the USD 450,000 Chennai Open 2009 will be cynosure of all the tennis lovers around the world and it will feature an impressive line-up of stars both Indian and International who will vie for the first ATP title of the new season. The week long tournament will be telecast live on Zee Sports.
Leading the field is 'The Machine', World No 5, Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) who ended the year on a high note reaching the finals of the Tennis Masters in Shanghai. He is joined by World No 13 (No 9 in June 2008), Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Gold Medal in Doubles (with Federer).
Completing the star-brigade in Singles draw are:
World No 23, Marin Cilic (Croatia) who reached the semi-finals in both Singles and doubles at Chennai Open 2008
World No 26, Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) -the Player to watch out for at the Open.
World No 33, Rainer Schuettler (Germany) who had a good run in 2008 Wimbledon reaching the semi-finals
Two former Chennai Open champions - home-crowd favorite and two-time Chennai Open champion (2004-2005)
Former World No 1 & World No 42, Carlos Moya (Spain) and
Former World No 3 & Chennai Open champion 2006, World No 44, Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) who incidentally stopped Moya from winning a hat trick of titles in 2006.
Other well-known players include, World No 49 (No 33 in May 2008), Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia), World No 56, Marcel Granollers (Spain), World No 62, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) and World No 88 (No 66 in July 2008), Fabio Fognini (Italy) and World No 97 (No 64 in May 2008), Ivo Minar (Croatia) amongst others.
The impressive field for Singles Draw of Chennai Open 2009 boasts of 2 players who are or have been in Top 10 and 8 players who are in the Top 50 during the year 2008. Also, as many as 15 players are top 100 players, thus making it a powerful and impressive field in the history of the tournament in many years. With the entry of World No 120, Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (Spain), it also has one of the lower cut offs in the history of the tournament.
Chennai Open 2009 will also see the return of two of India's greatest tennis legends Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes who will be playing with their respective partners Mark Knowles (Bahamas) and Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) respectively in the Doubles Draw. Giving them tough competition will be the Wonder Twins of USA - Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan who were until recently ranked as the World No 1 doubles pair.
The Bryan Brothers will be playing at the Chennai Open for the very first time. This also would be the first time that Chennai would get to see three of the World's Top 6 ranked teams (No 2 -Bryans, No 3 -Mahesh/Knowles and No 6 -Paes/Dlouhy) making it a week of high-voltage tennis action.
India's Top two ranked players Somdev Dev Varman (World No 201) and Prakash Amritraj (World No 203) have been given the wildcards for the Singles Main Draw. World No 195, Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) has received the third wild card.
Announcing the field, (refer annexure), Mr. Ravi Krishnan, Advisor, IMG India, the owners and organizers of this international ATP tennis event, said, "This is arguably one of the most open and competitive line-ups we have had at Chennai Open. The field boasts of eight players who are in Top 50 and all them have the potential of winning the Championships. An interesting point to note is that we have five players in the draw who have been in Top 10 in their careers that includes Davydenko, Wawrinka, Ljubicic, Moya and Schuettler. This field demonstrates the strength of Chennai Open and its position as the premiere tennis event in this part of the world."
Says V.Narayanan, President, Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), "Chennai Open, which is now in its 14th year is 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 City and State of Tamil Nadu - as a location for the other sporting events, for tourist within and outside India and as an investment destination for companies in the manufacturing and IT sectors".
Thanking the sponsors of the Chennai Open, Mr.Narayanan and Mr. Krishnan said: "We are thankful to all the sponsors for their support to this mega event. The consortium of sponsors who have been with us for the past five years have placed Chennai, the capital of Indian Tennis, on the International Tennis Map. Thanks to the vision and initiative of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the other sponsors, the Chennai Open is not only promoting Tennis but also playing a significant role in the overall development of the State of Tamil Nadu."
This year at the Chennai Open, the crowd would witness some interesting contests especially if it involves World No 5, Nikolay Davydenko and World No 44, Ivan Ljubicic. At the 2008 French Open 2008, Ljubicic produced the biggest upset of the tournament (at that time) by coming back from a two sets deficit to defeat then World No. 4, and 2007 French Open semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko on the score of 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Davydenko surely would be raring to go and get the scores straight at Chennai. Another player who would be gunning for revenge with Ljubicic would be the home-crowd favourite World No 42, Carlos Moya who was deprived of a hat trick of Chennai Open titles in 2006 finals.
However the player to watch out at Chennai Open this year will be undoubtedly World No 26, Ivo Karlovic. Evolving from a 'dangerous floater' to a genuine Top 10 contender, this 6' 10" Croatian continues to make giant strides on the ATP Tour. Karlovic first showed he could cut it with the ATP's big guns at Wimbledon in 2003. Since then the Croatian has tormented the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to become one of the most feared and greatly improved players on the circuit. The 'Giant from Salata', the tallest player on the ATP circuit, was never heralded as a player of great potential in Croatia. But today - through hard work and dedication - the Zagreb native stands on the brink of the Top 10 having emerged from the long shadows of Mario Ancic, Goran Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic.
There is another interesting element to this year's Chennai Open. 7 players from Spain and 4 players from Croatia will showcase the domination of their respective countries in Chennai. These star players will bring in a touch of glamour to some high-voltage tennis action on courts.
Says M A Allagappan, Vice President, All India Tennis Association (AITA), "It is a matter of pride that Chennai Open, which has gained the reputation of being the best-managed tournament in India has entered its 14th year. The tournament which has converted Chennai and Tamil Nadu as India's sporting destination has set benchmark that is unparalleled. TNTA and IMG deserve congratulations and we welcome the leading lights of world tennis to Chennai."
A CONSORTIUM of sponsors, headed by the Tamil Nadu Governor, will sponsor the Chennai Open Tennis Championships 2009, the ATP Tour event in the city. Apart from the Government of Tamilnadu, the sponsors include Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, United India Insurance Co, Indian Oil Corporation and BSNL in the platinum category and the Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Larsen & Toubro, Murugappa Group, TVS Group (Sundaram Finance) and Steel Authority of India in the gold category.
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