Tata Open Maharashtra: Top tennis stars give India's only ATP event a miss

India's only ATP 250 event, the Tata Open Maharashtra, which has seen players like Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson take part in the previous editions, will be without a big face this year due to a change in the ATP schedule. The tournament, that was previously held in Chennai in the first week of January, had seen the likes of Patrick Rafter, Stan Wawrinka, Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal making a pit-stop in India from Europe to the Australian Open. However, the inaugural season of the ATP Cup that was held in January forced the Tata Open to be shifted into February. With the edition being held close to the Australian Open, the fatigued players have decided to give the Pune event a miss.

“Players have been in Australia for a month, under tough circumstances and probably want to go back home (to Europe),” says Sunder Iyer, honorary secretary of the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA), the hosts for the tournament. “The (tennis) circuit now moves to Europe. Montpellier this week and Rotterdam next. So it’s much easier to go back to Europe and start playing.”

This will be the first time since 2003 that the Indian ATP tournament will not see a top 10 player take part.

The Tata Open will now be held in the same week as the Montpellier event, also an ATP 250 competition. With the French event offering better prize money, players have been preferring Montpellier, also due to its close proximity to Rotterdam.

The lack of foreign names, though has benefited the Indian stars with Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal making the main draw, and Ramkumar Ramanthan along with Arjun Kadhe getting a wildcard as well. Five Indians will be competing in the singles main draw of the ATP event for the first time, which leaves the chance for a local to bag the title.

The big crowd-puller, however, will be Leander Paes, who has been given a wildcard in the doubles event with his partner Matthew Ebden of Australia. With the veteran player announcing his retirement after the end of the year, this might be Paes' last ATP tournament in India. Rohan Bopanna will play the doubles as well.