Marin Cilic, ranked six as per ATP rankings, will lead the players’ field at the inaugural Maharashtra Open that will commence on January 1, 2018, in Pune. According to a communique by the organisers, four players from among the top 50 players in the world - Kevin Anderson, Roberto Bautista Agut and Robin Haase, besides Cilic - will participate in the tourney that replaced Chennai Open as the only ATP 250 event to be hosted by India.
Cilic, the 2009 and 2010 champion, will be seeking to redeem himself after the first-round exit last year in Chennai. He will be coming into the season with victories over other leading participants in the upcoming event - Agut, Anderson and compatriot Ivo Karlovic. Though ranked 79, Karlovic has beaten both Agut and Cilic this year.
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South African Anderson is also in hot form, having demonstrated his capabilities of challenging the leading players of the world when he became the lowest-ranked US Open finalist this year. He also made it to the final of the 2017 Citi Open, an ATP 500 event.
Among the other participants in the top 100 are: Jiri Vesely, Yen-Hsun Lu, Mikhail Kukushkin, Jeremy Chardy, Pierre Hugues-Herbert, Marton Fucsovics, Tennys Sandgren, Radu Albot, Laslo Djere, Gilles Simon, Lukas Lacko, Marius Copil, Nicolas Kicker, and Nicolas Jarry.
“We are excited to know that some of the best players in the world have confirmed their presence at inaugural edition of Maharashtra Open. The player field gives fans in Pune a great opportunity to witness the best in the world exhibiting their prowess at the event,” Pravinsinh Pardesi, chairman, organizing committee, Maharashtra Open, said.
“It would be appropriate to say that the player field for the inaugural edition of Maharashtra Open is impressive,” said Prashant Sutar, Tournament Director. “Tennis fans in India and tennis lovers in Pune can expect high quality tennis this year,” Tom Annear, Co-Tournament Director added.
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