Britain’s No. 4 star and 2015 Aircel Chennai Open finalist Aljaz Bedene and South Korea’s talented Chung Hyeon will be the star attractions in the qualifying rounds of the 22nd edition of the Aircel Chennai Open to be held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Nungambakkam from January 2.
The ATP released a rich field of 14 players on Tuesday who will be vying for the last four places up for grabs through the tough grind of qualifiers. They include players from nine different countries, including such powerhouses as Canada, Russia, Austria and Slovakia. The lowest ranked player who made it into the official player acceptance list is Italy’s Matteo Donati, ranked as high as 207.
But with India’s Saketh Myneni (ranked 194) being given a wild card (along with Ramkumar Ramanathan), Croatia’s Franko Skugor (No. 216) sneaked into the draw. The qualifying rounds will be held on December 31and January 1, officially kicking off the country’s longest-running and most prestigious international tournament.
“This is a very impressive field,” Tom Annear, Aircel Chennai Open’s Tournament Director, said. “A number of fine players are in there. It’s going to be a tough fight for all, and that will only enhance the quality of play in the tournament”, he added.
Croatia’s mega star and World No. 6 Marin Cilic will be the biggest draw at the ACO, with World No. 14 Roberto Agut (Spain), No. 27 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spain), No. 35 Martin Klizan (Slovakia) and No. 48 Borna Coric (Croatia) adding to the lustre of the annual ATP event in India.
Former Top 10 players Tommy Robredo (Spain) and Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) will also be seen in action, the former after 12 years and the latter after two years.
Twenty-seven-year-old Bedene, who was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia and represented his country in the Davis Cup till 2015, made it as far as No. 45 in singles rankings last November. He is a familiar face in Chennai, having made it to the finals in 2015, where he lost to Stan Wawrinka.
Chung is a bulky 20-year-old who was awarded ATP’s Most Improved Player of 2015. A product of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, he played the finals of the Wimbledon Juniors in 2013 and attained a career-high ranking of seven in this category. In the seniors, he climbed as high as 51, jumping a phenomenal 120 places in less than a year. He is now a regular feature in South Korea’s Davis Cup team.
Argentina’s Nicolás Kicker (No. 110), Jozef Kovalík (117), Jürgen Melzer (136), Marco Trungelliti (146), Steven Diez (166) and Federico Gaio (175) are among the other players who will be battling it out for the last places in the Aircel Chennai Open.
The Key Names in the Qualifying List:
Bedene, Aljaz (GBR0 Rank- 101
Kovalik, Jozef (SVK) Rank- 117
Cecchinato, Marco (ITA) Rank- 188
Kudryavtsev, Alexander (RUS) Rank- 195
Chung, Hyeon (KOR) Rank- 104
Melzer, Jurgen (AUT) Rank- 136
Diez, Steven (CAN) Rank- 166
Moriya, Hiroki (JPN) Rank- 173
Donati, Matteo (ITA) Rank- 207
Gaio, Federico (ITA) Rank- 175
Skugor, Franko (CRO) Rank- 216
Trungelliti, Marco (ARG) Rank- 146
Kicker, Nicolas (ARG) Rank- 110
Zekic, Miljan SRB 201