Teenager Manas Dhamne is set to make his ATP Tour debut after being awarded wildcard for Tata Open Maharashtra, the organisers of the ATP250 tournament announced during the main draw ceremony on Saturday.
Manas, who turned 15 on Thursday, is one of the three Indians who have received main draw wildcards. The other two Indians who will compete in the main draw are Mukund Sasikumar and Sumit Nagal.
Manas will face American World No. 113 Michael Mmoh in the first round. Sumit Nagal’s first-round opponent is Serbian World No. 54 and sixth seed Filip Krajinovic. Mukund Sasikumar will play against a qualifier in the opening round.
Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Aditya Vishal Balsekar will compete in the qualifying round and fight for the remaining four spots in the main draw.
Former U.S. Open winner Marin Cilic will kick-start his campaign in the second round along with the last edition’s finalist Emil Ruusuvuori, world No. 35 Botic van de Zandschulp and No. 43 Sebastian Baez, all of whom have received byes in the respective opening rounds.
In the doubles category, Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar, who clinched the title last year, will play along with different partners this time. The two-time champion Bopanna, who is also the top-ranked Indian doubles player in the world at 19, will team up with Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Ramkumar, on the other hand, will join forces with Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela. The two pairs will face each other in the opening round.
Top-seeded pair of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury will be up against Baez and Luis David Martinez.
Saketh Myneni and Yuki will also feature in the doubles main draw. Playing together, Myneni and Bhambri have won five titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2022.
Arjun Kadhe and his Brazilian partner Fernando Romboli have received a wildcard for doubles. Playing together, the duo finished runners-up at the ATP Challenger event in Turkey in September.
(With inputs from PTI)
