Tata Open organisers, on Saturday, announced that Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Arjun Kadhe will get a direct entry to the main draw. The inaugural edition of the ATP 250 world tour tournament will be held between December 30 2017 to January 6 2018 at the Balewadi Stadium.
Bhambri, who is India’s top-ranked singles pro on the circuit with a rank of 116 will lead the lead the challenge for the hosts. The 25-year-old has been one of the consistent Indian players in last one year. In November, Yuki won the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger event, beating Ramanathan in the finals.
At the Citi Open in Washington, Bhambri reached quarter-finals before losing to US Open finalist Kevin Anderson in three sets. This will be his sixth appearance in the main draw of the Indian ATP event. His best result was reaching the quarter-finals in 2014 event losing to Vasek Popisil. Last year, he reached the round of 16 after making it through the qualifying rounds. “I’ve had some good results this year and have played over 20 tournaments. The last time I came to Pune I won the event so I’m looking forward to the event,” said Bhambri.
Ramkumar Ramanathan (142) comes to the main draw at the back of winning three titles in ITF Futures event. The 23-year old from Chennai will make his fifth appearance in the main draw of this event. His best performance here came in 2016 when he reached the quarter-finals.
Kadhe, on the other hand, comes to this event winning his first ever Futures title. On his way to the title, the Pune lad didn’t drop a single set and beat Australian Andrew Harris 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the hard court event played in Thu Dau Mot City, Vietnam. “Being top-ranked Indian players, Yuki and Ramanathan will lead Indian challenge in singles event at the Tata Open Maharashtra,” said tournament director Prashant Sutar.
“On the other hand, Kadhe is an emerging talent and this being his home ground, it would be an additional source of inspiration to do well here. We wish all our wild-card entrants the best of luck,” he added.