Jan.1: Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri have been handed easy openers for the Chennai Open tennis tournament that begins here at the SDAT Stadium on Monday. In a draw ceremony for the 32-player field, both the youngsters have been pitted against qualifiers.
However, the other Indian in the draw was not so lucky. In a repeat of last year’s opener, Rohan Bopanna will run into third seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. The eventual runner-up hardly broke a sweat in his straight set win over Bopanna in 2010, but Wawrinka is wary of the Coorgi who was the country’s hero in the Davis Cup World Group play-off against Brazil.
“He must be high on confidence after his appearance in the US Open doubles final. It is not going to be easy for me with the entire crowd supporting him,” said Wawrinka.
The winner of the tie could meet Somdev provided the No.1 Indian crosses his first hurdle. Meanwhile, Marin Cilic’s hopes of completing a Chennai hat-trick received a body-blow as the second seed will begin his title defence against giant-killer Kei Nishikori. The recently-turned 21-year-old from Japan is the hottest talent on the circuit. He will be looking to repeat the last year’s US Open performance where he stunned the tall Croatian in the second round.
The doubles draw is mouth-watering. Seeded No.1 Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi could meet Indo-Pak Express Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in the final. The 16-team draw also has Asian Games gold medallists Somdev Devvarman-Sanam Singh in the mix.