Some of the world's top players including Janko Tipsarevic (World No 10) of Serbia and Nicolas Almagro of Spain will be part of the line-up of Tennis stars for the 17th ATP Aircel Chennai Open next year.
Scheduled to begin on January 2, the tournament will feature in the main draw —Somdev Devvarman — ranked 85 in the world. Interestingly, the cut-off rank for the main draw this year is 98, unlike earlier. The cut-off for Chennai Open so far was above 100. Last year it was 114. Announcing the main draw of 21 direct entrants, Mr Ashu Jindal, CEO, IMG Reliance, said this is the strongest field ever in 16 years.
This is indicative of the strongest field in the South Asian region, said Mr M.A. Alagappan, President of Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, at a press conference here today.
Thanking the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for supporting the event, and Aircel, the title sponsor for the tournament, he said, “Confirmation of top players such as Tipsarevic, Almargo, Cilic and the young sensation Milos Raonic of Canada is testimony to the stature of the tournament.”
The platinum sponsors this year will include the Government of Tamil Nadu, Indian Bank, United India Insurance, Murugappa Group and Indian Overseas Bank.