Five Indian players in the double’s main draw of Tata Open Maharashtra

Five Indian players, including defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan would be part of the doubles main draw at the season-opening Tata Open Maharashtra tennis tournament in Pune, the organisers announced on Friday.

The 2017 edition’s runners-up pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan will play with new partners Leander Paes and American Scott Lipsky respectively.

“It is an interesting mix of field in the men’s doubles category at the Tata Open Maharashtra. We have stalwarts like Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna who only seem to be getting better and better by each passing year. Sharan, Raja and Jeevan form a strong field of Indians at the event. In fact, we have Vishnu Vardhan and Sriram Balaji as alternates and if they make it, the field will have seven players from India. This bodes well for Indian tennis and the fans too,” tournament director Prashant Sutar said.

The 36-year-old Bopanna, ranked 18 in the world partnered with Chennai’s Nedunchezhiyan for the first time at this event in early 2017, which was called the Chennai Open then. The pair had formed a strong team to edge past Sharan and Raja to claim the doubles title.

This year, Sharan and Raja will be partnering with different players after consistent results at the end of the 2017 season with their new partners. Sharan has had a fairly good run this year with his third title when he won the ATP European Open with American Lipsky, while the Paes-Raja pair won two ATP Challengers titles recently in Knoxville and then Champaign, Illinois.

Paes, who has made 18 appearances at the Indian ATP event, won it first time in 1997 along with Mahesh Bhupathi. The pair defended their title in 1998, 1999, winning it in 2002 and then straight 2011. The last time Paes won the doubles title in the competition was in 2012, this time with Janko Tipsarevic.

Internationally, the biggest name in the doubles draw will be France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Currently ranked No 13 in the world, the current Davis Cup champion will team-up with compatriot Jonathan Eysseric.