ID :
38802
Mon, 01/05/2009 - 09:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/38802
The shortlink copeid
Russian Davydenko favourite, Lee-Hesh to shoulder local hopes
Chennai, Jan 4 (PTI) Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko will start favourite in the singles while Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will shoulder local hopes in doubles as the USD 450,000 Chennai Open, featuring one of the strongest singles field this year, kicks off here Monday.
The crowd will see a range of international stars
including seven top-50 players competing for the top honour
with Swiss Olympic Champion Stanislas Wawrinka also throwing
his hat in the ring.
Wawrinka, who won gold medal in doubles event in Beijing
Olympics with Roger Federer has been seeded second.
The king of the aces Croat Ivo Karlovic, seeded fourth,
will be one player to watch in the hard court event.
As far as the Indian presence is concerned, Somdev
Devvarman will lead the hosts nation's challenge in the
singles event with his Davis Cup teammate and doubles partner
Prakash Amritraj also featuring in the tough field.
However, the crowd can pin their hopes on Paes and
Bhupathi, though they will be playing with different partners
and are even expected to face each other in the summit clash.
Bhupathi and his Bahamaian partner Mark Knowles have been
given the top billing while Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy are
seeded second.
Both Bhupathi and Paes had a reasonable 2008 and ended
within the top-10 bracket.
They have enough experience in their illustrious careers
to pierce through any field and the home crowd will egg them
on to win the title.
Also testing their skills would be young Yuki Bhambri and
experienced Harsh Mankad who have been given a wild card
entry.
Playing in the big league itself is a huge bonus for
Delhi teen Yuki, who is graduating impressively from junior to
senior level.
Mankad also did well last year in a few ATP Challenger
series events in doubles with Ashutosh Singh and is expected
to carry on that momentum but it remains to be seen how he
gels with his young partner.
The road is quite difficult for Somdev and Prakash --
both wild card entrants -- as the former plays his first round
against American world number 114 Kevin Kim and latter opening
his campaign against world number 33 and fifth seed German
Rainer Schuttler.
Both the Indians have to play extraordinary tennis to
advance to the later stages of the event.
Leander Paes is the lone Indian to have gone beyond the
second round in the tournament when he stormed into the
semifinals in 1998.
The 13-year old tournament has thrown open new winners on
most occasions and only six top seeds have won the title
including one of the contenders this time -- Spaniard Carlos
Moya, who remains the lone player to have won the title twice
(2004 and 2005). PTI RE
DEP
The crowd will see a range of international stars
including seven top-50 players competing for the top honour
with Swiss Olympic Champion Stanislas Wawrinka also throwing
his hat in the ring.
Wawrinka, who won gold medal in doubles event in Beijing
Olympics with Roger Federer has been seeded second.
The king of the aces Croat Ivo Karlovic, seeded fourth,
will be one player to watch in the hard court event.
As far as the Indian presence is concerned, Somdev
Devvarman will lead the hosts nation's challenge in the
singles event with his Davis Cup teammate and doubles partner
Prakash Amritraj also featuring in the tough field.
However, the crowd can pin their hopes on Paes and
Bhupathi, though they will be playing with different partners
and are even expected to face each other in the summit clash.
Bhupathi and his Bahamaian partner Mark Knowles have been
given the top billing while Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy are
seeded second.
Both Bhupathi and Paes had a reasonable 2008 and ended
within the top-10 bracket.
They have enough experience in their illustrious careers
to pierce through any field and the home crowd will egg them
on to win the title.
Also testing their skills would be young Yuki Bhambri and
experienced Harsh Mankad who have been given a wild card
entry.
Playing in the big league itself is a huge bonus for
Delhi teen Yuki, who is graduating impressively from junior to
senior level.
Mankad also did well last year in a few ATP Challenger
series events in doubles with Ashutosh Singh and is expected
to carry on that momentum but it remains to be seen how he
gels with his young partner.
The road is quite difficult for Somdev and Prakash --
both wild card entrants -- as the former plays his first round
against American world number 114 Kevin Kim and latter opening
his campaign against world number 33 and fifth seed German
Rainer Schuttler.
Both the Indians have to play extraordinary tennis to
advance to the later stages of the event.
Leander Paes is the lone Indian to have gone beyond the
second round in the tournament when he stormed into the
semifinals in 1998.
The 13-year old tournament has thrown open new winners on
most occasions and only six top seeds have won the title
including one of the contenders this time -- Spaniard Carlos
Moya, who remains the lone player to have won the title twice
(2004 and 2005). PTI RE
DEP
