Indian players Sumit Nagal and Arjun Kadhe were on Friday awarded wildcards in the singles and doubles main draw respectively at the fifth edition of the Tata Open Maharashtra as South Asia’s only ATP 250 event begins at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Nagal is the second wild card entrant in the singles main draw after Mukund Sasikumar. Nagal featured in the French Open and US Open qualifiers earlier this year and also reached the quarter-finals of ATP Challenger event in Germany in August. The singles field will witness 17 top-100 players including the World No 17 Marin Cilic.
“This is the happiest week [of year] for Indian tennis players because it is the biggest tennis tournament we have in India and we all get a chance to play. Thank you everyone for giving me the opportunity to play here,” said Nagal.
Pune-born Kadhe will play alongside Brazil’s Fernando Romboli. Playing together, the duo finished runners-up at the ATP Challenger event in Turkey in September.
Three-time Grand Slam champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, and two-time champion Bopanna will be among the key attractions in doubles.
The Tata Open Maharashtra will be organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association in association with the Government of Maharashtra for the fifth year in Pune.
The qualifiers will take place on Saturday and Sunday while the main draw will be played from January 2-7.
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