Three-time grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka, a regular fixture at the Chennai Open for eight years, will give the event a miss in 2017 and head to Brisbane, Australia instead.
The Swiss star who won the recently concluded U.S. Open has been a crowd favourite at India’s only ATP event winning the season-opener four times including the last three years.
Wawrinka, who for a long time was in the shadows of his illustrious compatriot Roger Federer, has seen his stock rise higher with each passing year. He has in fact won a Grand Slam tournament in each of the past three years and never missed an opportunity to describe Chennai as his “good luck charm.”
Yet, in a statement published by the Courier Mail , a Brisbane-based tabloid, Wawrinka was quoted as saying that it was the right time to make the move. “I’ve heard such great things about the event and the beautiful city of Brisbane, and it feels like the right time to change-up the start of my season. Brisbane is certainly one of the best events on the tour, always attracting the top players,” he said.
After winning the Chennai Open in 2016, Wawrinka refused to confirm his participation for 2017 and instead cryptically asked the crowd to pressurise Tom Annear, the tournament director to have him back.
Brisbane had earlier pulled of a major coup in attracting Rafael Nadal too with the Spaniard opting for it over Doha.
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