CHENNAI: Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, who is also the president of the TNTA on Friday, officially announced that the city would host the Chennai Open International Tennis Championships, a WTA 250 event from November 2-8 with support from the Tamil Nadu Government.
This year Chennai Open will feature a new initiative whereby Electronic Line Calling will be used on all three courts and the TNTA also hopes to rope in the Top-50 ranked players to participate in the tournament.
The Chennai Open (WTA event) was held in 2022 and made a comeback in 2025 as it was part of the centenary celebrations of the TNTA. This year the organisers hope for a better turnout by both players and fans.
''There is no doubt as to the impact of staging major international Sports events in the State and the Country and our own Chennai Open the earlier ATP event and the current WTA event are an outstanding example. Not only the best in the world came to Chennai and everyone knows the exploits of our own players who used the home opportunity to the maximum to move onto the top world stage. Last year too, two Indian girls Sahaja Yamalapali and Shrivalli Bhamdipaty moved into the second round of this event - a first time in 250 event,'' said Vijay Amritraj.
For the first time in the tournament's history, the Electronic Line Calling (ELC) system will be used on all three match courts (two out side). ELC is a regular feature at Grand Slams, all ATP Tour tournaments and major WTA events. It is a real-time tracking system that provides automatic "fault" and "out" calls, eliminating the need for line judges.
''The conduct of such an International Women's event will fulfil a longstanding need of promoting Women's Tennis and will encourage more girls in the State to play the great sport of Tennis which will immensely help them in both, education and life.
I would, like to inform that our Next level program supported by Bajaj Finserv, looks after training fitness and tournament participation and travel of 9 players - 5 girls and 4 boys. The program has been progressing well. Amongst the girls Diya Ramesh who participated at Australian Open and Wimbledon juniors and ranked no 2 in India and Rohit Hari Balaji amongst the boys are doing well,'' said Amritraj.
''We will try and get many players from Top 50 in the world. Seeing them in action our players will be inspired,'' he added.