Top players ready for Chennai Open

Chennai, Nov 21 (IANS) The 19th edition of the Chennai Open will present an exceptional line-up of top tennis players.

The field will see World No.8 Stanislas Wawrinka, No.15 Mikhail Youzhny, No.16 Fabio Fognini and defending singles champion Janko Tipsarevic. The 2014 edition marks only the second time in the event’s history where three returning singles champions form part of the field.

Others who will add excitement include France’s Benoit Paire, Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Roberto Bautista-Agut, and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vesselin.

The $450,000, Dec 30 to Jan 5 tournament will be held at the SDAT Tennis Stadium.

The 28-year-old Wawrinka will be visiting Chennai for the sixth consecutive year to vie for the crown after a terrific season where he also qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals. The Lausanne native reached the semi-finals of the season finale on his debut but fell to eventual winner Novak Djokovic.

The Swiss, with a career-best 51-23 match record this season, had partnered Paire to lift the 2013 doubles title.

World No.36 Tipsarevic had a dream start to 2013, capturing his fourth ATP World Tour title by defeating Roberto Bautista Agut here. He also won in Stuttgart.

The season started for Youzhny on a positive note as he recorded his 400th career win in Doha. Later he became the first Russian champion in 18 years at Gstaad. Youzhny went on to win his second crown of the season, 10th of his career, at the Valencia Open.