CHENNAI:Yuki Bhambri will be the second seed for the Chennai Open Challenger, which begins from February 12. The 25-year-old, who came through the qualifiers of the Australian Open to reach the first round, will be one of four Indians in the main draw (others being Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Sumit Nagal and Saketh Myneni). While Ramkumar Ramanathan is conspicuous by his absence, he has planned to spend his time training in Spain.
The field will be headlined by Jordan Thompson, the young Australian who took out Jack Sock in the first round of the US Open last year. Big things are expected of the 23-year-old and he proved his credentials when he also took out Andy Murray in the first round at Queen’s in 2017. Spain’s Marcel Granollers, a regular at the Chennai Open, and Korean Soonwoo Kwon will be seeded third and fourth respectively. The qualifying event will be held on February 10 and 11.
The $50,000 event, which was announced by the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), is in essence a replacement for the Chennai Open, which moved to Pune this year. A Cherbourg event in France is the only other Challenger which will be held at the same time.
Main Draw
(Rankings as of last week): 1 Jordan Thompson (Aus, 99), 2 Yuki Bhambri (Ind, 119), 3 Marcel Granollers (Esp, 133), 4 Soonwoo Kwon (Kor, 174), 5 Nikola Milojevic (Srb, 176), 6 Duckhee Lee (Kor, 195) 7 Sumit Nagal (Ind, 217), 8 Mohamed Safwat (Egy, 223), 9 Enrique Perez-Lopez (Esp, 224), 10 Yasutaka Uchiyama (Jpn, 237), 11 Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (Egy, 240), 12 Prajnesh Gunneswaran (Ind, 247), 13 Dmitry Popko (Kaz, 248), 14 Pedro Martinez (Esp, 253), 15 Edan Leshem (Isr, 255), 16 Danilo Petrovic (Srb, 258), 17 Cem Ilkel (Tur, 265), 18 Saketh Myneni (Ind, 267), Bernabe Miralles Zapata (Esp, 272), Ivan Nedelko (Rus, 275), Max Purcell (Aus, 276), Kimmer Coppejans (Bel, 277).
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