CHENNAI: As it stands, this edition of the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 event, will be the third and final edition. In order to capitalise on the growing popularity of World No 20 Alexandra Eala, the rising Filipino star, the governing body for women's tennis and Octagon, the tournament's license-holder, have decided to replace the Chennai Open with a maiden Tour-level event in Manila in the same window in 2027.
Although Vijay Amritraj, Tennis legend and TNTA president is disappointed that the WTA 250 event will not be there, he said an effort was being made to host four consecutive WTA 125 events in India in early 2028. WTA 125 is a category of tournaments between the main WTA Tour and the ITF circuit. "The plan is to put four WTA 125s - one each in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra - in January-February 2028. I have already brought this up and they have tentatively blocked some dates," he told select reporters on Tuesday. Amritraj also said that Chennai, which has a long history of hosting ATP and WTA tournaments, will be ready in case a slot opens next year.
'There could be upsets in the first round'
Amritraj felt the draw for this year's Chennai Open November 2 to 8 at the SDAT Nungambakkam Stadium was good and fans would be delighted to see some of the talented players in the world in action. Vijay said that there was no dark horse and believed that anybody who was consistent and adapted to conditions can win. "Like Linda Fruhvirtova (in 2022), anybody can win the tournament. But the girls who played here have a little bit more of an edge. Simply because in lots of foreign countries where you go to for the first time, it's not that simple to kind of get acclimatised to conditions," he said. ''But overall, it's a strong field,. So it's a sustained interest. It's not bottom-light. I think if you see first rounds, I'm fairly sure that there will be upsets," he added.