Bhupathi to play Chennai Open with Daniel Nestor

India’s top doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi will begin his final season on tour at the Aircel Chennai Open and will partner with Canada’s Daniel Nestor.

Bhupathi played this year with fellow Indian Rohan Bopanna while Nestor partnered with Belarus’ Max Mirnyi. The Chennai Open begins on 31st December and this is the 17th eidtion of the event.

Bhupathi and Nestor will be seeded no. 1 at the event. Bhupathi is currently ranked no. 11 in the ATP rankings and said he is likely to retire from the sport next year.

Tournament director Tom Annear commmented, “We are pleased that Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniel Nestor have chosen the Chennai Open to begin their new partnership. They are talented and mature players and respect each other’s game. We’re sure they will be a pair to watch out for in the new season.”

In the singles event, the top seeds include Tomas Berdych, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka.