Marin Cilic’s India connection goes again to greater than a decade, from when he gained back-to-back ATP 250 titles in Chennai (2009/2010). Nonetheless, it’s been 5 years because the 2014 US Open champion final got here to India. One issue was the rejig of the ATP Tour’s India pitstop within the tennis calendar even because the match was shifted from Chennai to Pune.
The ATP Tata Open Maharashtra is now again in its season-opening slot, and the Croatian too is in India after a 2018 semi-final run.
The 34-year-old is the highest draw on the ATP 250 occasion in Pune that kicks off on the Balewadi Sports activities Complicated on Monday. The world No 17 leads the 28-man area that has 14 gamers ranked within the prime 100, six of them within the prime 50. The doubles part is headed by American Rajeev Ram and UK’s Joe Salisbury. Positioned third and fourth respectively in doubles rankings, they’re winners of the 2022 US Open and ATP Finals.
It is a comparatively robust area that mirrors the times when the likes of Carlos Moya, Ivan Ljubicic, Cilic, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Kevin Anderson picked India to kickstart the contemporary season and tune up for the Australian Open in mid-January.
For a few years, Tata Open Maharashtra misplaced that promoting level. The 2020 and 2022 editions—the 2021 occasion was not held as a result of pandemic—have been held in late January and early February, after the Australian Open when most prime gamers take a breather or look to play elsewhere. It had a telling impression on the general draw which, although that includes some notable names in Benoit Paire (2020), Aslan Karatsev and Lorenzo Musetti (each 2022), didn’t have the depth of this version.
Russian Karatsev, the highest seed final 12 months, is seeded eighth this time. Above him are second seed and Thirty fifth-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, the Dutchman who reached the 2021 US Open quarter-final as a qualifier earlier than shedding to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev, and 2022 Tata Open finalist Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, seeded third and ranked fortieth. There’s additionally the extremely rated 22-year-old Argentine Sebastian Baez, the previous junior No 1 whose 2022 season had a maiden ATP title in Estoril, and world No 50 Alex Molcan of Slovakia.
From the unseeded ones be careful for Tim van Rijthoven, the 25-year-old Dutchman ranked 111. In June, the then world No 205 produced one of the crucial out-of-the-blue moments of the season in beating top-ranked Medvedev within the ‘s-Hertogenbosch closing and changing into the lowest-ranked tour-level winner of 2022. He went on to make the Wimbledon fourth spherical and take a set off eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
“We have now a really robust area this time, maybe among the best this occasion has seen,” stated Prashant Sutar, the match director. “The match returning to January first week is actually satisfying for us as organisers due to the extra thrilling competitors and presence of larger names.”
Talking of thrilling, Manas Dhamne, all of 15, will elevate the curtain on Monday’s centre courtroom motion in opposition to Riyadh-born American Michael Mmoh. Handed the third and final wild card, it is going to be an enormous step up for the intense Indian prospect who has performed a solitary match on the ATP Challenger stage. Competing with the world No 113 in his dwelling metropolis must be an expertise for the 2022 ITF Asia/Oceania junior champion.
On the different finish of the wild card spectrum are Sumit Nagal and Mukund Sasikumar, two 25-year-olds at completely different junctures of their careers. Nagal, coming off a season grappling with rehab and return after a hip surgical procedure, will hope for a greater begin to 2023 whereas Mukund, the India singles No 1 at 340, will try to maneuver a stage greater within the professional ladder. Nagal has a stern opening-round take a look at in 54th-ranked Serbian Filip Krajinovic whereas Mukund faces Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli.
For a lot of final season the highest Indian tag rested with Ramkumar Ramanathan, who has since fallen to 435 within the rankings. However like this profitable qualifying weekend in Pune confirmed—he beat Otto Virtanen (world No 175) and Mattia Bellucci (153)—these rankings have typically not matched the potential of his sport. Ramkumar has earned the suitable to play Pedro Martinez, the 62nd-ranked Spaniard.