Yuki Bhambri leads Indian challenge at Chennai Open

Rising star Yuki Bhambri will spearhead the Indian challenge in a fairly strong field, comprising defending champion and world number four Stanislas Wawrinka among others, for the Aircel Chennai Open scheduled from January 4 to 10.

Yuki, the country’s leading singles player, broke into the top-100 earlier this year. He reached a career-high of 88 earlier this month, before closing the year at an impressive 91.

In fact, an exceptional line-up of top talent will be on display in the $480,000 event that continues to be South Asia’s only and India’s premier ATP tournament.

Cutting off at 94, the impressive player field for the region’s most exciting and hard-fought tennis tournament will see Wawrinka, Chennai-debutant World No. 12 Kevin Anderson, World no. 19 and ATP’s Comeback Player Of The Year 2015 Benoit Paire, World No. 25 Roberto Bautista-Agut, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Gilles Muller, Vasek Pospisil, Borna Coric and Aljaz Bedene representing nine players from among the top 50 in the world.

At the forefront will be two-time Grand Slam champion, Wawrinka, who will defend his title in his eighth visit to Chennai, looking to claim a hat-trick of championship wins come January.

In June this year, Wawrinka won his second Grand Slam – the French Open – at Roland Garros against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Wawrinka won four titles during the year, and qualified for the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals for the third year in a row, reaching the semi-finals in all his appearances at London.

Current world no. 12 and big serving, Kevin Anderson, will be making his debut in Chennai. The top-ranked South African player will start the new season on the back of a career high top-10 ranking in 2015, and a maiden entry in the quarter-finals of the US Open after defeating current world No. 2 Andy Murray.

Towering at a staggering 6’8”, Anderson will be looking to avenge his defeat with a possible clash with defending champion Wawrinka at Chennai.

Speaking on the announcement, Tom Annear, Tournament Director, said, “Every edition of this prestigious tournament has been inimitable and special for us but this time around, we are celebrating 20 years of the event in Chennai, its home city, and look forward to putting together an exceptional event we are certain fans will enjoy. An outstanding player field is one feature of the event we’re proud to reveal to you today.”