Ramkumar Ramanathan has been granted a wildcard in the singles main draw at the Tata Open Maharashtra, to be held at the Balewadi complex tennis courts from February 3-9.
Joining him will be two other Indians, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal, making singles direct entries. The doubles wildcards will be announced later.
India No. 1 singles player Prajnesh got into the main draw following the withdrawal of Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak. Nagal moved up from the alternative list into the 20-player singles draw following the withdrawal of Japan’s Soeda Go. The TOM, into its third year, is an ATP Tour 250 series event and India’s only ATP Tour event.
Ramkumar will be making his third appearance in the event and had won the doubles title at the KPIT Challenger last year at this venue, partnering Purav Raja. Nagal, the second highest-ranked singles exponent among Indians, also featured in the year-end Challenger in Pune.
Leander’s request
Leander Paes has requested the TOM organisers for an entry into the men’s doubles which is likely to be acceded to, in view of this season being his final appearance.
The Indian veteran, who recently featured in mixed doubles at the Australian Open, named Aussie Matthew Ebden as partner for the Pune event and has been placed in the alternatives list, along with other Indian pairs Rohan Bopanna-Arjun Kadhe, Rakumar-Raja.
