Bopanna-Nedun will lead India’s doubles charge in Aircel Chennai Open

The dynamic duo of Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan will lead India’s challenge at next month's Chennai Open, scheduled to begin on January 2.

Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan paired with Bopanna earlier this year, going as far as the quarterfinal in the Chengdu Open in China.

The dynamic duo of Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan will lead India’s challenge at next month's Chennai Open, scheduled to begin on January 2.

India’s highest-ranked doubles player Bopanna (No. 28) paired up with Nedunchezhiyan (No. 100) earlier this year, going as far as the quarterfinal in the Chengdu Open in China. They crashed out to Adil Shamasdin of Canada and his Swedish partner Andres Siljestrom but looked good as a pair on the court.

They will begin the tournament as seventh seeds and will look forward to support from the stands to surge through the early rounds. Chennai will see another Indian pair competing for honours, Purav Raja (No. 65) and Divij Sharan (63) who also played at the Changdu Open earlier this year.

Seven-time Olympian Leander Paes, winner of 18 Grand Slams, will however continue to be India’s biggest attraction in doubles. He has been seeded third with Andre Sa of Brazil (No. 53).

As a 43-year-old, it might well be Leander’s last Chennai Open and he will be eager to bow out in style.

Jonathan Erlich of Israel (51) and Scott Lipsky of the United States of America (48) will begin the season opener as the top seeds and favourites for South Asia’s only ATP world tournament. Erlich-Lipsky played together as long ago as in 2010 and had a 2-1 win-loss record before they went their own ways.

The tournament will also see Yen-Hsun Lu from Teipei, with a singles ranking of 62, play with his partner Andre Begemann from Belgium.

The Chennai Open promises to be a star-studded affair with World No. 6 Marin Cilic as the prime draw, along with World No. 14 Roberto Agut (Spain), No. 27 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Spain), No. 35 Martin Klizan (Slovakia) and No. 48 Borna Coric (Croatia).

The list:

Erlich, Jonathan (ISR) - Lipsky, Scott (USA); Team Rank - 99

Duran, Guillermo (ARG) - Molteni, Andres (ARG); Team Rank - 111

Paes, Leander (IND) - Sa, Andre (BRA); Team Rank - 112

Monroe, Nicholas (USA) - Sitak, Artem (NZL); Team Rank - 114

Koolhof, Wesley (NED) - Middelkoop, Matwe (NED); Team Rank - 117

Begemann, Andre (GER) - Lu, Yen-Hsun (TPE); Team Rank - 126

Bopanna, Rohan (IND) - Nedunchezhiyan, Jeevan (IND); Team Rank - 128

Raja, Purav (IND) - Sharan, Divij (IND); Team Rank - 128

Darcis, Steve (BEL) - Paire, Benoit (FRA); Team Rank - 133

Brunstrom, Johan (SWE) - Siljestrom, Andreas (SWE); Team Rank - 136