India’s Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan have received a direct entry into the doubles main draw of the fourth edition of Tata Open Maharashtra, organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and scheduled at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune from January 31 to February 6.
The Indian pair, who won the Adelaide International ATP-250 event earlier this month by stunning the top seeds, have earned a spot in the main draw with a combined ranking of 156. The direct acceptance list consists of 14 pairs with a cut off being 250.
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In 2019, the Asian Games champion star doubles player Bopanna lifted the title of this tournament with Divij Sharan while Ramkumar had a semifinal finish in the last edition with Purav Raja.
The 2020 Australian Open finalists Max Purcell and Luke Saville have also been included in the doubles main draw. The 23-year-old Purcell has paired up with compatriot Matthew Ebden, who will be returning to Pune after being featured in the last edition with Indian great Leander Paes. Saville will play alongside John-Patrick Smith.
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“It’s always a great feeling to see Indians getting a direct entry at the Tata Open Maharashtra as our aim is to give Indian players that much-needed platform. This tournament has always witnessed Indians performing well in doubles and I hope it continues this year too. But not to forget, they will be up against a strong challenge for the title as we have got a strong field this year too,” said Tournament Director Prashant Sutar.
Among the players, who have secured direct entries in both singles as well as doubles main draws are teenage sensation Lorenzo Musetti, 2018 US Open semi-finallist Radu Albot, Ricardas Berankis and Stefano Travaglia.
The former World No. 49 Illya Marchenko will be among the 11 direct acceptance entries into the singles qualifiers as they will fight for four main draw spots.
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